Sticks and Stones
by northernnbelle
Summary: With the Goodwill Games behind them, Adam and Emma take on a new challenge: Eden Hall University. Will they make it through or will their dreams get in the way?
1. Chapter 1

Music blasted through Emma James' headphones, distracting her from the fact that she was miles above the ground. She closed her eyes and tapped her fingers along to the beat, focusing only on the music. She was totally caught off guard when one of her headphones was yanked out of her ear.

"Seriously, how are you not deaf?" her best friend Anna asked incredulously. The 18-year-old shrugged in response. "They just announced that we would be landing in about an hour." Emma nodded, trying not to look to excited but she knew Anna could tell.

The two girls were on a plane to Minneapolis, Minnesota to attend Eden Hall University. Emma got a scholarship to play hockey with the rest of her teammates and Anna decided to continue her education there as well. They were leaving Pennsylvania behind and they were so excited to start a new chapter together. But that's not why Emma was practically bouncing in her seat.

After a year of being separated by a thousand miles, she would finally get to be with Adam again.

The Goodwill Games ended too soon, forcing the two to go their separate ways. Airfare was too expensive for the teens, meaning they only got to visit each other twice. Adam came to her over Thanksgiving and she visited him in February. The rest of the year was spent video chatting, texting and calling each other. Long distance is hard on anyone so they had their fair share of fights, but they got through it together. Now, the long distance part was over. She had Adam with her for four years. _Hopefully longer._

Anna broke her out of her thoughts, waving a hand in front of her face. "What?"

"Thank god we're almost there. If we had to wait any longer I think you might explode," Anna answered.

Emma rolled her eyes. "It's been five months since I've seen my boyfriend. Sue me."

Anna smiled at her in return. "I know. Just don't get too sappy when you two do see each other. The last thing I want is to stand there awkwardly watching you and hockey head make out."

Emma laughed and hit her. The two were interrupted by the intercom letting them know the flight was set to arrive in a few minutes.

The plane landed and the two girls walked through the short boarding zone hallway that took them into the airport. When they got there, they looked around.

"Emma!" The two turned their heads and immediately rushed over to the people who were calling for them. "Connie! Julie!" Emma yelled, tackling them both in hugs.

"I'm surprised Adam didn't come pick you up," Connie said.

Emma heaved an annoyed sigh. "His dad made him go to a last minute hockey camp. He won't get back until really late tonight so he's just staying home. I won't see him until school tomorrow," she said, "But I get to spend time with you guys so I'm alright with it."

"It gets even better," Connie grinned, "we're suitemates. Our rooms are connected by the bathroom in between us."

The girls cheered and gathered their things to leave the airport.

* * *

After a delicious home cooked meal at the Moreau's, Emma, Anna and Julie were dropped off at the dorms. Connie's parents were going on a trip and begged her to stay home for one more night, which she agreed to and told the girls she'd meet them in the morning.

Emma and Anna got their room keys and headed with Julie to their rooms. When they opened the door they were met with piles of boxes and other things that were shipped down by their parents earlier in the week. "We should probably get started."

Two hours later everything was situated. The girls spent the night talking and catching up with Julie. Finally at around 11, they decided they should get some sleep before school tomorrow morning. Emma crawled into her bed, beyond ready to fall asleep. "Lena?" Anna said quietly. Emma hummed in response. "We're gonna be okay here, right?"

Emma rolled over and smiled at her best friend. "We're gonna love it."

* * *

Morning came a little too quickly for the girls' liking, but Emma couldn't help but be excited. She would finally get to see Adam again. They got up and got ready for the day, both dressing a little nicer for the first day.

When they met up with Julie for breakfast, they found some of the other ducks. They said hello to Russ, Dwayne, Ken and Luis and immediately fell back into their regular banter. After they finished eating, they headed over to another building to meet with the rest of the ducks and the other freshman.

"This place is running low on the brothers quota," Russ joked.

Julie laughed. "I just wanna know who this new Coach Orion is. My dad said if I didn't like him I could come home." "That's nice," Russ started, "My dad said I better keep this scholarship or he'll whip my ass."

"I heard in the dorm that he played for the Minnesota North Stars and got suspended for punching out the coach," Luis added. Dwayne was quick to correct him with the Dallas Stars.

"I heard he was a Buddhist, like kung fu or Richard Gear," Emma said, repeating what she heard about him. "Are we talking about the old kung fu or the further adventures of the new kung fu?" Russ asked.

"Ya'll watch too much tv," Dwayne added, which Russ responded immediately to, "Shit, that's the safest thing to do in my hood."

They entered the building and found seats closer to the front of the room, right in front of a group of athletes in red jackets. They talked for a while until one of the jocks behind them interrupted.

"You know what," he started, getting their attention, "You ducks don't belong here at Eden Hall."

Russ immediately turned around, "What did you say?"

"Hey easy Russ, they probably just think we're someone else. I'm Dwayne, we're the new hockey team," he said, hoping to ease the tension.

The other guy laughed. "We're the D1 team, the only hockey team. NCAA champs. You could just call us the Varsity." They watched another player put his chewed gum in Dwayne's hand. "You know, my little brother lost his D2 scholarship when they brought you freaks in here."

"Probably wasn't good enough," Emma bit out.

The jock looked at her, annoyed. He leaned forward, closer to her. "That's my dad," he said, pointing to a man on stage. "He's gonna get the board to revoke your scholarships. Just wait."

"That's your dad?" Russ asked, "Nice outfit, does it come with a yacht?"

* * *

"Nice tie Banks. Cake eater," Charlie called out. Adam just rolled his eyes and laughed. The ducks all met up this morning and were now on their way to school.

His dad took him to a camp in Colorado for a week and even though he learned a lot, he was anxious to get home. The two got back late last night, which prompted Adam to stay home and immediately crash. Now he was anxious to get to school. Emma was already there.

When he broke out of his thoughts, he realized Charlie and Goldberg were missing from the group. Apparently Goldberg lost control and Charlie went after him. The rest of the group continued on, knowing that they'd catch up at some point. Minutes later, two bodies came flying over the bridge above them and landed right at the front of the group.

Finally, the campus came into view and the group rushed towards the building. They were late so they planned to sneak in from the back.

Emma listened as the Dean droned on about the Varsity team and how accomplished they were. He began talking about the ducks but was cut off when there was a sudden banging and movement in the curtains behind him.

Suddenly, the curtain fell on top of a group of people. When they lifted the curtain, she recognized the rest of her teammates. The seven sitting in the audience stared at them in disbelief before laughing quietly and face palming.

"Hi," Charlie said, "We're the ducks."

Adam was mortified. He knew it was a bad idea to sneak in the back. He looked over the crowd and his eyes immediately found his girlfriend. She shrugged and tried to hide her laughter in her hand, which immediately made him feel better.

After mumbled apologies, the group took their seats in the front row. Dean finished his speech quickly after and the students were dismissed. The ducks lingered, wanting to catch up before they were supposed to head into Dean's office.

Emma walked up to Adam, watching him take off his skates. "Nice entrance," she joked. He laughed, standing up to immediately pull her into a hug.

"Hi," she whispered. "Hi baby," he mumbled into her hair, holding her tightly. The two pulled away and kissed quickly, which was met with lots of cat calling from their teammates. Adam turned red but Emma just rolled her eyes.

Soon they were called into the Dean's office. The team piled in, looking at all of the awards and pictures that were scattered around the room.

"Yo, check it out," Charlie said, pointing to the ant farm. They were so busy looking at it they didn't hear Dean enter the office.

"You can learn a lot from ants," he said, making everyone jump. "These Brazilian fire ants will teach you a lot about structure. There's one queen in there. Everybody else pulls their weight and it's the same here at Eden Hall. You are the workers."

"And you're the queen?" Russ fired back. Dean looked at him unamused while everybody else tried not to laugh.

* * *

The rest of the day was spent in various classes. Because the freshmen have to take core classes and they have daily hockey practice, most of the ducks were in the same classes. However, they were caught off guard by the amount of work. They listened all day as professors droned on about assignments and quizzes. Emma felt her stress level rise dramatically, she was already worried about getting all of this work done.

Finally, their classes were over for the day and they found the locker room to get ready for their first hockey practice. They walked into the arena and looked towards the ice to find the "Varsity" team practicing. Above them, there were numerous NCAA championship banners hanging.

"They look pretty good," Luis commented. Charlie scoffed, "They're not so hot. Come on, let's go."

The team walked over to the doorway to the rink when they were stopped by Riley, the captain. "Well, if it isn't Captain Ducky."

Fulton pushed his hand off Charlie's shoulder. "Get your hands off him."

"Look, it's a Bash Brother. I'm so scared," Cole taunted.

The varsity coach came over and pulled the team away to the locker rooms, allowing the ducks to get on the ice.

"How bout a game of cowboy roundup?" Charlie asked Dwayne. "Shouldn't we wait for the new coach to get here?" Connie asked. Charlie laughed, "This is how we practice Connie. Duck hockey. He's gonna have to get used to it sooner or later."

Everyone looked unsure, but decided to play anyway. A few minutes into the game, Dwayne caught Charlie and when he fell onto the ice, they heard a whistle blow. Everybody stopped in their tracks and looked up to see a man skating onto the ice.

"I'm Coach Orion. You can call me Coach or Coach Orion."

Charlie stood up and held his hand out. "You can call me Charlie." Everyone looked at each other, wondering if he was crazy.

"That must be what that C on your jersey stands for, cause it doesn't stand for Captain."

The arena was silent. Russ quickly tried to ease the tension. "Sorry Coach, we were just messin' with you."

"Hey, Bombay gave him that C," Goldberg added defensively.

"And I respect that, but that's the past," Coach Orion fired back, "this is my team now and I pick the Captain."

Charlie scoffed, "Yeah right. You're the rookie. We've all been together for four years."

Coach Orion didn't seem impressed. "Okay Charlie, laps."

Charlie sighed, removing the rope from around his chest. "How many, _Coach?"_

"I don't remember saying."

With that, Charlie began skating circles around the rink. When he left, Orion looked at the rest of the team. "Now you listen and you listen good. We are here for one reason and it starts with a W. You know what that is?"

"To win Coach Orion sir!" Averman yelled, trying to suck up.

"No," he shut him down quickly. Russ laughed, but one look from Orion shut him up quickly. "To work. College hockey is hard work and it all begins with defense. I've seen your tapes. I know you can score goals, I just don't know if you can stop them."

Goldberg got defensive again. "Hey!" he yelled. Coach looked at him, challenging him to say something. "Sorry, sir."

"You're not little ducks anymore and I'm not going to treat you that way. You're going to learn to play two way hockey. Offense and defense. But that's going to take one thing that starts with a W."

"Work Coach Orion, sir," Averman chimed in again.

"Wrong. Will. It's going to take real will if you want to play with me."

With that, the team counted off and practice began. Goldberg got in the net first but let nearly every shot into the net. Julie went in next and stopped every shot, even Adam's. It was clear she practiced a lot over the past year.

After what seemed like hours, practice finally ended. The team piled into the locker room, groaning about the workout.

"Get a shovel and bury me right here," Goldberg said, laying across the bench.

"I'll teach you to play like what starts with a W!" Charlie yelled.

"Wussies," Averman answered.

"That's right, wussies on offense and-" "Defense defense defense!" Russ yelled, barking like a dog.

"Eden Hall University requires you to maintain a C average to compete. I don't like that rule," Coach said, surprising everyone with his entrance. He walked to the bulletin board and pinned a paper onto it. "I don't want any C students on my team. It's Bs and better or you're riding the pine pony. You have fifteen minutes to clear this locker room after practice. You have homework. Oh and one more thing," he added, turning around at the door, "stay clear of the Varsity until we play them in the showdown."

"Fifteen minutes? Man I cannot move," Russ complained after he left.

"Hey guys look! He posted our positions," Connie said, getting up to look.

A few other players went to look at the bulletin board, including Adam. Emma stayed behind, knowing he'd tell her her's.

"I can't believe this. I play left side, not right," Fulton complained.

"Third line? Man that's a major diss," Russ added.

Adam walked up and his heart stopped when he couldn't find his name on the board. "I'm not even posted."

Connie looked for his name. "Yeah you are. Adam Banks, third line center. Varsity?" she read, disbelieving.

Emma felt her heart drop. She looked up at him.

"I made Varsity?"

* * *

 **Here it is!  
**

 **I made a few adjustments because I have them playing in college. At my school, there's a team for all three divisions, so I based it off of that. The Varsity plays D1, which is against all of the big schools, while the Ducks play D2, against the smaller schools.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **-T**


	2. Chapter 2

"You know, the distance really isn't that bad when we have sex like that after we get back together," Adam joked, earning an elbow to the ribs.

"Charlie's gonna hate us," Emma mumbled into his chest. He chuckled softly. "He just needs to find his own girlfriend he could spend all his time with."

Emma laughed and cuddled up to him, laying her head on his chest. The two were laying in Adam's bed together, tangled up in the sheets. It was silent for a few minutes before Adam spoke up.

"What's going on in that head of yours, James?" he asked her. She looked up at him, surprised. He laughed. "You forget how well I know you."

Emma breathed out a laugh and thought back to the Goodwill Games when she said the exact same thing to him. When she thought about the present situation, the smile dropped immediately and she sat up. Adam grew concerned and sat up next to her, taking her hands. He waited for her response.

"I need you to promise me that you won't be like them," she said, looking at him.

He smiled at her. "I'll never be like them. I promise." He tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear, which earned a small smile. But he knew something else was wrong. "Em?"

"We're gonna be okay, right?" she asked quietly. "We're on two different teams now. We have totally different schedules."

"Hey," Adam said, getting her to look at him, "We're gonna make this work, okay? I love you." He could tell she was still partially unconvinced and a little scared for her future, so he decided to be a little more open than usual. "I mean it Emma. You're it for me."

She felt her heart skip a beat at his confession. Adam was usually reserved about his feelings. Of course, she knew he loved her, but other than that he didn't say much. She'd known for months now that he was all she ever needed, but because he was so quiet, she wasn't completely sure if he felt the same.

"Really?" she asked softly, looking up at him. He pushed her back down on the bed, leaning on his elbows above her.

"I'm gonna marry you someday, Emma James."

Emma grinned and pulled him back on top of her.

"I'd really like that."

* * *

A week later everything was definitely _not_ fine.

It was the slowest week of Emma's life. Practices were brutal and left everyone sore and she found herself in the library for hours every night trying to finish homework. The worst part was the lack of Adam.

Over the week, the two had only managed to see each other two times. Adam stayed over one night earlier in the week and she talked to him in between classes for a few minutes yesterday. The different schedules were really putting a strain on things. Not to mention the fact that he chose to sit with his teammates for lunch.

 _Emma was sitting with Connie, Anna, Averman, Russ and Goldberg when Adam walked over. The two found out the day before that they had the same time in between classes for lunch. He went to set his tray down when Riley walked over._

" _Banks, if you're going to be on the varsity, you should sit with the varsity."_

 _Adam watched as his captain walked back to the table. He looked at his friends. "I should probably go. Sorry guys."_

 _With that, he kissed Emma on the cheek and headed over to eat with his new teammates._

 _Emma watched him walk away. They barely had any time to spend together and he chose to go sit with his team over her. She was hurt but didn't let it show. Anna looked at her sympathetically but she just shook her head, signaling that they'd discuss it later._

Emma looked over at the table to find him talking with Scooter, the varsity goalie. Kenny walked by their table but was stopped by Cole.

"Let's see what we have for lunch today," he said, grabbing the sandwich Ken bought from the dining hall.

"Did you see that? Banks just sat there and watched them pick on Ken," Charlie said, sitting down at the table.

Emma watched her boyfriend, noticing he kept his head down. She was a little pissed off at Adam for not defending Ken, but she kept silent.

The group changed the subject, diving into a conversation about the girl Charlie had his eye on. Connie and Emma began giving him tips on how to ask her to go to their game tomorrow.

Adam looked over at his friends and wished he could be over there. Emma had the brightest smile on her face and she was laughing at something Goldberg said. She looked so beautiful. He hadn't seen her much this week and it was killing him. But tomorrow was finally Friday, so they would be able to spend time together.

A few minutes later Fulton and Russ walked over to the group and handed Charlie and brown paper bag. He grinned. "Alright, let's go."

Without saying another word, the three got up from their seats and casually walked past the varsity table. As they suspected, they were stopped by Cole, who took the bag from them.

"Come on man, my mom sent me brownies," Charlie complained.

Cole just laughed and stuck his hand in the bag. He pulled it back out and smelled it, recoiling instantly from the stench. "What the hell kind of brownies are these?"

Charlie was trying not to laugh. He put his hand on the jock's shoulder and leaned in close. "I gotta stop telling her to put horse shit in the recipe."

With that the three took off, the rest of the varsity team not far behind them.

* * *

Hours later, Emma found herself skating warm up laps on the ice.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Julie mumbled next to her. She went to the side of the rink and threw up over the side.

"One cupcake over the line, Catlady," Goldberg said giddily, skating past her.

Earlier in the day, Goldberg "congratulated" Julie by buying her a whole tray of sweets. They should have known then he was up to something. They would have to talk to Julie about it later.

Eventually, a scrimmage began. The teams played hard against each other, hoping to impress the new coach.

"I don't see a Captain out here," Orion yelled, skating around his players.

Charlie took on Guy one on one as he was the last line of defense before the goal. "Make him make the first move, Conway," Coach yelled to him. Charlie went after the puck but he tripped, allowing Guy to get a shot at the net. Luckily Goldberg saved it and passed it to Charlie who sent it up the middle.

Annoyed, Orion blew the whistle. "Freeze! I said freeze. Where's one place you don't want to clear the puck Conway?

Charlie sighed, equally as annoyed. "It looked open," he responded.

"Just answer the question."

"Listen, I'm not a defenseman, I'm a scorer," Charlie bit back.

Orion looked at him for a second before motioning for Charlie to follow him. Skating over to the penalty box, he opened the door and motioned for the player to sit.

"Anybody share his opinion?" he asked, only to be greeted with silence. "Alright, take a knee."

"What's the one thing every great team has in common?" he asked once everybody was kneeling.

"Great coaching," Averman answered. "Don't try to suck up to me Averman." He nodded and shut up.

"Defense. See unlike scoring, defense never quits. But to play great defense, you need one thing above all else. Confidence. Listen, if you learn nothing else while you're here you learn this. It's not just about hockey. It's easy to be confident when you have control. But it's very difficult to keep control when life throws curves at you. You can't be too careless but you can't be too careful either. And don't be afraid to lose because that's how you gain the confidence to go after the puck when it isn't yours. That's how you attack life. That's how you play real defense."

Despite what Charlie and the others thought of him, Emma gained a lot of respect from him after that. She felt like he could really do some good for this team and fill the hole that Bombay left them with.

After their talk, he gave them twenty laps and sent them to the locker room.

* * *

Friday finally came and Emma found herself in a Warrior uniform. The crowd cheered as the team skated onto the ice. It felt weird without Adam on the ice with her, but she looked up at the crowd and found him sitting there ready to cheer his friends on. She smiled to herself, knowing that even though she wasn't with him now she'd have him all to herself later.

Adam smiled down at his girlfriend, wishing so badly he could be on the ice with his friends. But at the same time his mind wouldn't shut up. _Varsity will get you to the NHL, not the ducks._

After a quick speech from Coach, the team put their hands in and Charlie started the quack. It was quickly shut down by Coach.

"What the hell is that? Knock it off. 'Go Team' on two. Ready, one, two."

"Go team," they all repeated unenthusiastically.

"Go team, how original," Charlie deadpanned, skating away from the bench.

"Just get in the game, Charlie," Averman said, nudging him.

The players piled around center ice, where Charlie got the puck drop. He passed it to Emma who skated down center ice with it. Fulton took out two guys, which allowed her to send a pass to Charlie who put it in the net.

Adam stood up to cheer, only to be pulled right back down by Riley. He sat quietly for the rest of the game.

"Hey Russ, you gotta teach me how to talk some trash," Ken said, sitting down on the bench.

"It can't be taught man. It's gotta be the first thing that comes to your mind. Pick a target," Russ said.

"Hey ref-" Ken started. Russ and Emma both threw a gloved hand over his mouth. "Pick a different target."

"Hey, number 44. You-you don't play real good," he stuttered out, only to be laughed at by the player.

"Shorter man. Get to the point," Russ emphasized, rolling his eyes.

Ken stood up, nodding his head. "Hey number 9, bite me." The player gave him a good shove and he fell back over the bench.

"Now you're getting somewhere," Russ laughed, high fiving Emma.

The next period and a half were spent scoring goals. Russ used his knucklepuck as an assist to Guy, Fulton ripped one into the net and Emma had two goals of her own. The score was 9-0.

The third period began and the ducks came out a little too confident. Blake came out even harder and took the puck towards Julie. They managed to score and the shutout was over.

Over the next few minutes, the score was getting closer. Coach kept trying to rotate the line, but no matter who he put in they weren't able to stop the Blake players.

Late in the third period, Charlie and a Blake player found themselves one on one.

"Make him make the first move Conway!" Coach reiterated.

Again, Charlie went for the puck, tripped and allowed Blake to score another goal. The score was now 9-7.

Frustrated, Charlie got up and swung his stick against the goalpost, shattering it. He got two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct.

A minute later, Goldberg was put in. Blake scored again and they were down by one. In a last ditch effort Blake pulled their goalie. Thirty seconds were left and Charlie took control of the puck.

"Clear it Charlie!" Emma yelled to him, skating to keep up. Charlie ignored her and everyone else, taking the puck up the ice and refusing to pass it.

"Knock it off Charlie pass it!"

"We already won!"

He ignored everyone and continued with the puck until he was tripped. He sent the puck toward the goal anyway. "Charlie no!" Emma yelled.

The puck stopped right before the goal line. Blake took control of it and despite everyone's best efforts they managed to score. The game ended in a tie. 9-9.

* * *

The ducks entered the locker room angrily. Charlie barged in and threw his stuff in the corner. "The guy hooked me, alright?" he tried explaining.

"We didn't need anymore goals," Ken said quietly.

"Listen, I was trying to win it," he yelled in his face.

"Mission unaccomplished, Charlie!" Averman yelled, pushing past him.

"We let down, simple as that," Guy chimed in. Connie was fuming. "Hey! _You_ let down, _I_ played hard," she snapped, shoving a hand against Guy's chest and then moving toward her locker.

Emma just shook her head and threw her gloves into her locker.

Charlie looked around at everyone and then decided to reply. "What are we playing for anyway? The alumni? I mean the Warriors? Who the hell are we now?" he said angrily, taking off his jersey in disgust.

"Look man, we're on scholarship," Russ defended, standing up, "I'm staying."

Fulton looked at him incredulously. "Fine, sellout."

"Man who you callin' a sellout?" he fired back, pushing Fulton. Fulton and Charlie both pushed him back and the rest of the team worked to separate the three of them. They stopped dead when the door flew open.

"How long does it take to score a goal?" Coach asked. Everyone ducked when he threw a puck at the bulletin board. "Less than a second."

"No lead is safe if you can't play defense," he continued, walking along the line until he reached Charlie. "Now get this straight. I don't care how many goals you score, one number should be on your mind. Zero, as in shut out. You got that?" He waited for Charlie to respond, watching as he stared straight ahead, positively fuming.

"Practice, tomorrow morning. 5 AM. Gotta get up early if you wanna hunt goose eggs."

The slamming of the door echoed as nobody spoke. They all turned to their lockers silently until Guy spoke.

"Hey, who took my clothes?"

They opened the shower curtain to find all of their clothes in a pile under one of the running spouts. On the wall above it, "freshmen suck" was written in shaving cream.

"I guess that answers your question," Averman said.

Emma rolled her eyes and walked back to her locker. Did Adam know about this? He spends all his time with the team so he had to know. Angrily, she grabbed her duffel bag, took off her skates and walked out the door.

* * *

Hyped up on their win, the Varsity piled back into the locker room. Adam went to his locker only to find all of his stuff completely frozen. He looked around him and noticed everyone else had frozen lockers too. They looked to Cole and Riley, who were equally as confused as everyone else.

Cole poked at his jacked and watched as it hit the ground and shattered like glass. He looked at Riley, who pointed to the ceiling. Above the door written in shaving cream was the phrase, "Varsity sucks ice!"

"Ducks," Riley muttered. He angrily punched the door to his locker and sent ice flying.

* * *

Adam didn't come over that night and Emma didn't stay up waiting.


	3. Chapter 3

Six thirty couldn't come fast enough for Emma. The 5 AM practice Coach forced on them consisted of suicides and drills until their legs were ready to fall off. After what seemed like hours, Coach finally dismissed them.

She changed as quickly as she could, hoping to get back to her nice warm bed to catch a few more hours of sleep. As she was walking out of the arena, she pulled out her phone. She wasn't paying attention and ran right into another person. As the stranger's arms reached out to steady her, she knew exactly who it was. She looked up and met the bright blue eyes of her boyfriend.

"Hey," he greeted her. She mumbled hi in return. They stood in an awkward silence for a few seconds and then Adam sighed.

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't come over last night. I was a little pissed off about all my stuff being frozen." Emma looked up at him confused. A small smile crossed his face. "Your teammates froze all of our lockers. Cole's jacket shattered like glass."

Emma laughed a little. "You could call it karma then." Now Adam looked confused. "Your teammates threw all of our clothes in the shower."

Adam laughed in response. "It makes more sense now. You didn't know about it?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I left as soon as I could. I was pissed about the game and your stupid teammates."

"I'm sorry," he apologized.

She shook her head and dismissed it. "I'm sorry too. I should've known you wouldn't know about it either."

Adam smiled at Emma and pulled her into a hug, which she gladly returned. "I have practice now, but I'll come by when I'm done?" he suggested. She nodded. "I was planning on going back to bed but you're welcome to join me."

"That sounds perfect," he mumbled, leaning down to give her a quick kiss, "I'll be by in a bit."

With that he headed into the arena. Emma smiled to herself and began walking back to her dorm.

* * *

The weekend came and went quickly. Emma and Adam spent most of the weekend together, catching up on the whole week they spent apart. Emma knew that she wouldn't get to see him much during the week so she'd take as much time as she can get on the weekends.

It was Wednesday and Emma was sitting with her teammates eating lunch.

"Heads up, Varsity is coming," Russ said, nodding his head to signal the group walking over.

"Congrats on the Blake game," Riley said.

"Yeah right, we tied," Charlie answered.

"Hey, a points a point. We're all Warriors now. You guys proved yourselves. Are we all set for dinner tomorrow night?" the varsity captain asked.

"Dinner?" Goldberg asked.

"It's an Eden Hall tradition. Varsity has to treat the freshman to dinner. So get your team together and we'll meet you there, say around 6? At the Minnesota Club, downtown. You guys do like steak and seafood, right?"

"Yeah we do," Charlie answered for everyone. Riley patted him on the back and started to walk away.

"I don't like you pukes, alright? But this is a tradition. At Eden Hall, I learned to care about tradition," Cole added, before walking away with the rest of the team.

Adam was left standing at the table. The ducks looked up at him, waiting for his input. "It's cool," he said, kissing Emma on the cheek and heading back over to his teammates.

That seemed to be all the validation they needed as the team agreed to go.

* * *

The next night, Adam arrived at the Minnesota Club. All of his teammates were huddling together, talking excitedly about something.

"Good Banks, you're here," Riley said, pulling him into the group.

"Where are the freshmen?" Adam asked, looking around.

"We have a surprise for the little ducks," Cole said excitedly.

Adam felt his stomach churn when they filled him in on their master plan. He couldn't do this. They were his friends, weren't they?

As he looked around the dinner table, he couldn't help but say a silent thank you that Emma wasn't here. She was forced to stay home and study for the exam she had the next day and he had never been happier for schoolwork. He was broken form his thoughts when Riley stood up and banged on his glass.

"On behalf of the Eden Hall Varsity champion hockey team, we'd like to welcome the future state champs to the University. The Eden Hall Freshmen," he said with fake sincerity.

Adam kept his gaze focused on the ground. He couldn't go through with this. These guys were his friends.

 _Friends don't get you to the NHL._

He internally groaned. His dream had always been playing professional hockey. Playing on the varsity was only going to help him get there. _You've worked your whole life to get this far._

"We're just glad you loaned us Banksie so we could beat you in the annual Freshman-Varsity showdown," Riley continued on. Adam felt Cole slap him on the back, a way of saying there's no backing out now.

"Okay, nobody move. We've got one last surprise. Boys," he called.

The varsity players all began standing up to leave the room. Adam heard Riley repeat his name. _Think about your future._ He sighed and stood up, following the rest of his teammates out of the room and silently apologizing to his friends.

* * *

Emma looked up from her textbook to the sound of the door slamming. Half a second later, Connie came barging into the room pointing her finger, obviously very pissed.

"Your boyfriend is a dick," she seethed.

Emma just sat there staring at her, completely clueless. She opened her mouth but nothing came out.

"I just spent two hours cleaning toilets in the men's bathroom with _Goldberg."_

Emma was even more confused. "Uh, why? And what does that have to do with Adam?" she asked.

Julie then walked into the room. "The whole dinner was a set up. They met us there for dinner and then left us with the check. We had to stay and clean the entire restaurant to pay it off."

"Adam left with them?" Emma asked angrily. They nodded their heads in response.

Suddenly, Charlie walked in the door. "Did you hear what Banks did?"

Emma looked up at him. "I can't believe he would do that."

Charlie scoffed in response. "Open your eyes, Emma. He was already a preppy. It was only a matter of time before he became one of them."

"Look, just let me talk to him," she said, trying desperately not to believe what Charlie was saying. "Maybe something else is going on."

Charlie stared at her for a few seconds. "Fine," he snapped, "but when you figure out who he really is, don't come crying to me."

The door slammed behind him and with that, the two other girls left the room.

Emma sat back down and put her head in her hands. He walked out with his team, leaving his friends there to deal with the consequences. What the hell was he thinking?

What if he was changing? _No. He promised he wouldn't._ She groaned and banged her head on the desk. They were going to have a long talk tomorrow.


	4. Chapter 4

The next afternoon Emma found herself walking up to the varsity players at lunch.

"Can we help you?" Riley asked, leaning against the table next to her.

Emma rolled her eyes, "I need to talk to my boyfriend."

Adam cringed when he heard her tone. He knew he was in trouble. He was going to stop by her room last night to tell her everything himself, but he decided not to. Looking at her now, he probably should have.

"In that case, I'll be your boyfriend sweetie," Riley said playfully, grabbing her arm. She yanked it away quickly. "Bite me," she spat.

One look at Riley's face told her how much she pissed him off. Smirking, she turned around to walk away, knowing Adam would follow her.

"How's Anderson doing?"

Emma felt her blood run cold and she stopped in her tracks. Slowly she turned around, hoping she heard him wrong. She looked at Adam, who, to her surprise didn't look shocked, just ready to kill him. Then she turned back to Riley. One look at the smug smirk on his face told her everything. He knew.

"Go to hell," she bit out, turning on her heel to walk away.

Adam immediately followed her. "Emma, wait!" he yelled, catching up to her and grabbing her arm.

"How could you?" she accused, whipping around to face him. Adam was confused. "What?"

"How could you tell him about that?"

"What? I didn't," he tried to tell her.

She let out a dry laugh and shook her head. How else would he have found out? Nobody knew. And Adam didn't look surprised when Riley said that to her. "I trusted you," she said quietly.

"I didn't tell him anything," he pleaded with her, trying to get her to believe him. He looked into her eyes and saw blind rage and betrayal and he knew there was no convincing her otherwise. "Emma please, don't pull away from me," he begged. He reached out for her, but she quickly moved out of his reach.

"Did you mean anything you said?" she asked quietly, but then continued without letting him answer. "I believed you. I believed in you. Everyone said you were turning into someone else and I defended you. But it's true, isn't it? You're just another rich, arrogant hockey player."

He reached out for her one last time, but she turned her back and walked away.

He could've chased after her. He should've. Instead, he just watched her walk away.

* * *

Adam was fuming by the time he got back to his teammates. In one quick movement he reached over and pulled his captain up by his shirt.

"What the hell was that?" he asked lowly.

"Get your hands off me, Banks," Riley answered calmly. Adam didn't move a muscle until Cole pulled him off.

"How did you find out?" Adam asked. Riley smirked. "It's good to know people."

Adam lunged at him again, only to be held back by his teammates. "You had no right to talk to her like that," he growled.

Riley stared at him for a few seconds before chuckling quietly. Adam was fuming. How could he think this is funny?

"She thinks you told me," Riley guessed. Adam was surprised by he managed to keep a straight face as to not show it. "She thinks you told me and she broke up with you," the captain continued.

When Adam didn't respond, he knew he was right. "Well, you're welcome then." Adam looked at him like he was crazy. "Oh come on Banks, we both know she was only holding you down. Look, you've been training your whole life to get to the pros and it's paying off. With this team, we can get you there. Not your friends, not that girl. Us."

Adam's head was spinning. Since he got to Eden Hall, he had been trying to push those thoughts to the back of his head. Things his father repeated over and over like a mantra.

 _You've worked your whole life for this. Don't let anyone mess that up. Hockey is your future. Not some girl._

Now somebody else was voicing what his father said. Since the first time he put on skates he knew he wanted to play in the NHL. He's worked his whole life to get there. Why should anybody get in the way of that? _But it's Emma._

He thought about her for a moment and all of the heartbreak he felt a few minutes ago suddenly turned into anger. How could she accuse him of something like that? How could she not trust him?

"You have to think about your future now. The ducks got you here, but we'll take you all the way," Riley said, pulling Adam out of his thoughts. He nodded his head, sitting back down calmly.

Emma walked away. She was gone now. Hockey is his future and it's time he started focusing on that.

* * *

Emma successfully made the walk back to her dorm with no tears shed. However, the minute she shut her door, she felt them slide down her face. She sat down on the bed, putting her head in her hands. There was a knock at the door and she quickly wiped at her eyes, yelling for the person to come in.

"I would say I told you so, but I'm not that kind of person."

Emma let out a dry laugh. "You pretty much just did, Conway."

"You okay?" he asked seriously, coming to sit down next to her.

She bit down on her lip stubbornly. "I distinctly remember you telling me not to come to you if things went bad," she reminded him.

He shrugged. "Yeah, but I'm an idiot. Come here."

As soon as she felt Charlie pull her in she let out a sob, unable to hold it in anymore. The two sat there for a few minutes, Emma crying into his sweatshirt and him holding her close to him.

"I feel like such an idiot," she mumbled, pulling away and wiping violently at her eyes.

Charlie shook his head. "He had us all fooled Em."

Suddenly, six more bodies ran into the room from the bathroom. They all ran over to her, pulling her into a huge group hug that forced a genuine laugh out of her. She was so thankful she had these people as her friends.

"We gotta respond for the dinner," Charlie said a few minutes later.

"It's physics," Averman piped up, confusing everyone. He rolled his eyes, "each action requires an equal or greater reaction."

"Hey man, we gotta be cool. I don't wanna mess up my scholarship," Russ added. Everyone looked at him incredulously. "I mean, let's not get caught."

The group laughed and high fived, ready to come up with the perfect revenge.

* * *

It was past midnight when the ducks when down two floors to where the varsity players stayed. Peaking around the hallway entrance, Julie looked for any signs of life. "Coast is clear, let's go."

A handful of ducks followed after her with tubes and rope. They tied the rope to the door handles and stuck the tubes under the doors.

Outside, Connie and Guy were watching the doors to the dorm. Guy was on radio with Dwayne, who was on horseback checking the perimeter of the building.

Charlie led Emma and Russ down the hallway towards the Dean's office. Turning the door handle, they realized it was locked. Smirking, Emma reached up and pulling a bobby pin out of her hair and began working the lock. "I'm not even gonna ask why you know how to pick a lock," Russ whispered, which caused her to laugh. They heard a click and suddenly the door was open.

Sneaking inside, they made their way toward the ant farm.

"Careful Charlie, they don't call them Brazilian Fire Ants for nothing," Russ warned.

"Do you think he's gonna notice some missing?" Charlie asked. "I don't think he keeps a hand count, dude."

The captain nodded and stuck the tube into the farm, sucking up some ants.

After they took a jar full, they ran back into the dorm and met up with the rest of the ducks.

"Did you get them?" Luis asked. Charlie smirked and held up the jar. They released the ants into the funnel and watched as the little bugs made their way through the tubes into each room.

Suddenly, they heard screaming coming from the rooms. Fulton picked up the rope and held onto it tight, effectively preventing the doors to their rooms from opening.

"Now!" Charlie yelled.

Fulton let go of the rope, causing the doors to fly open and the players to come tumbling out of their rooms. The ducks stood at the top of the steps, laughing and taunting the players. Riley looked up at them and immediately came closer.

"You think this is funny? You think you're worth a damn? You're just white trash," he spat.

"Uh, who you callin' white trash?" Russ asked, causing the rest of the group to laugh.

"That's right. We can take you anytime, anywhere," Charlie added.

Riley was positively fuming. "Tomorrow. Dawn," he said, before racing off to the showers with the rest of his team. The ducks waved them off, laughing the entire time.

"I'm gonna kill you guys!"

The team looked up to find Cole flopping down the hall like a fish. His arms and feet were tied behind him, making him unable to move. Curious, they looked back at Dwayne who just smiled and shrugged. On that note, the group decided it was best if they left.

* * *

Adam got back to his room to find it completely empty. He had an exam tomorrow and the last few hours were spent cramming in a corner of the library. He only wondered where Charlie was for a second before his phone started ringing.

"Hello?"

"Banks, your little duck friends thought it would be funny to put ants in our bed."

He couldn't help but laugh quietly. _It wasn't like you didn't deserve it._

"We're playing them tomorrow at dawn. Be there."

With that, the phone call ended. Adam groaned in frustration. His friends should have just let it go. Now he had to face them tomorrow. He had to face Emma.

 _She walked away. Let it go._

He climbed into his bed and turned off the light, hoping to get some sleep before he had to face her tomorrow.


	5. Chapter 5

The cold air from the rink hit Emma hard as she skated onto the ice with her teammates. She looked across the ice to find the Varsity players warming up on the other end of the rink. She spotted Adam skating around and shooting pucks at the net.

 _Stop being pathetic. Move on._

Emma groaned, practically begging for her brain to shut up. But she knew it was true. Things have changed, Adam has changed. She had to move on.

"You ready?" Connie asked, skating over with her helmet. Emma nodded.

They both looked at Julie, who rolled her eyes annoyed. "Goldberg got to the net first. We're splitting shifts."

Connie laughed softly. "Who knew he would ever win a race."

* * *

Reaching the back of the line for warm-ups, Adam glanced over at his old team and felt his stomach turn. He really didn't want to do this. He had a feeling the minute he stepped on the ice this morning this game wouldn't end well.

Riley called them all back to the bench and he took one last look at his "friends." He saw Emma skating over to the bench at the knot in his stomach got even tighter.

"Alright, listen up. It's time we showed these freshmen who's in charge. Let's show them why we are the Varsity hockey team. Hit them hard, play them harder. Let's go."

The whole team cheered and headed out onto the ice. Adam skated towards center ice and took his place. When he looked up, he saw Charlie and Emma skating towards him. Emma was laughing at something Charlie said but she stopped immediately when they reached him. Charlie glared at Adam.

"They didn't tell me until it was too late, Charlie. Believe me," he tried to reason.

Emma laughed dryly and skated away. Charlie scoffed. "Yeah right, cake eater. And her?" he asked, motioning towards Emma.

"I would never do that to her, you know that," Adam replied calmly.

Charlie just shook his head, "I don't know you, Banks. Not anymore." With that, Charlie skated towards center ice.

Adam felt that knot in his stomach again, only this time it was accompanied by anger. Why did nobody believe him?

 _They're only trying to hold you back._

He tried to explain himself but nobody would listen. They believed he truly changed. Now he was done with the apologies and the guilt. They turned their backs on him, it's only fair he does the same.

Tightening his jaw, he set his stick down and focused on the puck.

He's an Eden Hall Warrior now.

* * *

"First to ten, full check," Riley said to Charlie. He smirked, "Bring it on."

Suddenly, Riley knocked Charlie flat on his back and took off down the ice with the puck. Right at the blue line, he was met with Connie and Emma on defense.

"Alright," he started, giving them both a good shove that knocked them down, "two for one." He took the puck right to the goal and scored.

Connie looked up from her place on the ice. "I really hate that asshole," she growled. Emma agreed, helping her up and skating over to the bench. They all watched as the Varsity over-celebrated their goal.

The next possession, Charlie took the puck behind the net and called for the Flying V. He was met by his teammates and they all took off toward the goal. Halfway up the ice, the Varsity players crashed right into them, effectively breaking up the play. Cole collected the puck and it was four on none towards the goal. They scored again and again, they celebrated.

"Come on defense, move!" Julie yelled.

As the game went on, Varsity picked up the hitting. The ducks were taking some hard hits. Finally, Charlie managed to get control of the puck. He skated up center ice, triple deked and shot the puck, which Scooter was able to catch.

"What the hell do I have to do?" he groaned, shaking his head.

A few plays later, black and red again had possession of the puck. They took it towards the duck's goal, looking for a way to get the puck in the net. Suddenly, Goldberg was knocked out of the net and the goal was open. They scored again.

"What the hell was that?" Fulton asked, pushing at Riley.

Suddenly, Connie skated into the center of the group and pushed at Riley. "Let me at him, Charlie!" Riley just laughed and taunted her. "You got a problem, sweetie?"

Emma grabbed her by the arm and puller her out of the huddle. Charlie followed, effectively breaking up the group.

"We can't win if they're gonna cheat," Connie said frustrated.

"Don't show them we're hurting. Keep skating," Charlie encouraged, patting her on the back.

The hard hitting and Varsity control over the game continued. Towards the end, Charlie managed to get control of the puck. He took it up center ice, where Adam met him. He skated up next to Charlie and used his stick to attempt to hook his arm and pull him away from the puck.

"Damn it Banks!" Charlie yelled, frustrated. He looped one arm around Adam's head and the two went tumbling down into the goal.

"Get off me Charlie!" Adam yelled, standing up.

Charlie stood up and gave him a good shove. "How do you like it, Banks?

"Nice take down Conway, you'd be in the box," Adam retorted, pushing him back.

Charlie gave him another good shove. "Go cry to your rich parents."

Pissed off, Adam wrapped his arm around his former captain's head and the two began fighting. Emma stood behind the goal with her arms crossed watching everyone fight. She would've joined in too, only she was focused on watching her best friend and ex-boyfriend fight in front of her.

Suddenly, the lights in the arena turned on.

"Hey!" a voice yelled, which caused some heads to turn.

Orion skated towards the group, yelling for them to break it up. He grabbed Riley by the helmet, pulling him close.

"It's a damn good thing I'm not your coach. Get your team out of here now."

He skated around and began separating the two teams, pushing the varsity players back towards the door.

Adam skated towards the exit. He turned around to look back at his old team, only to have his eyes lock on Emma. She shook her head and quickly broke their gaze, looking down at the ice. Feeling ashamed, he turned around and continued out the door.

* * *

Emma got back to her room and immediately crawled into her bed. She closed her eyes in hopes of getting some sleep before her classes, but her mind kept drifting to their early morning "practice."

 _Orion waited until the Varsity left before he started his rant._

" _Well congratulations, you just forfeited whatever mental edge you had over the varsity. Now they know they own you." When nobody responded, he continued. "This isn't the peewees anymore. You're little duck tricks aren't going to work at this level. Now for the last time, stay away from the varsity."_

 _He looked around the ice at his players. "And get those duck jerseys off now, let's go."_

 _Everyone looked at Charlie, waiting to see what he was going to do. "Now, let's go!" Orion yelled, which caused everyone to start taking them off. Emma looked at Charlie, who stood there with his arms crossed._

" _The ducks are dead," Orion stated, looking him right in the eye. Charlie still didn't move, but Orion wasn't deterred. "You've got two choices, Conway. Take off the jersey or you don't play."_

" _You're breaking up the best thing any of us ever had," Charlie bit out._

" _Well it's time to grow up."_

" _Grow up? Like you? A washed up pro who has to show off to a bunch of kids. Yeah, that's real grown up."_

 _Coach wasn't wasting any more time. "Okay, goodbye Conway. Anybody else?" Fulton looked around before skating forward and towards Charlie at the door. "Alright, goodbye Fulton."_

 _The team watched as the two walked out the door._

" _No one is forcing any of you to be here. It's your lives, you decide what to make of them." Nobody moved. "Alright. Twenty laps then hit the showers." With that, Coach walked out of the building._

* * *

"Banks! We're going out tonight to celebrate our humiliation of the ducks," Riley said to Adam after their practice.

"I have a big exam coming up, I should probably stay home and study," he lied.

In truth, he felt pretty bad about this morning. His team didn't play fair and he acted like an asshole. Celebrating wasn't exactly something he wanted to do. But one look at Riley told him he wasn't getting out of it. He faked a smile and nodded. "Sounds fun."

This was his life now, right? _Might as well get used to it._

That's why that night, he found himself at a house party, drinking beer from a red solo cup. He was standing in a corner with one of his teammates when two girls approached them.

"That better not be your first drink, Howard," the blonde girl said.

"And how many have you had, Laney?" Howard fired back. From there, the two engaged in their own conversation, outwardly flirting.

"They'll be making out in about two minutes."

Adam jumped. He didn't see the brunette come over to him. He looked at her and then turned his head to find the two other people whispering and holding each other really close. He chuckled and turned back to the girl, "I give it another thirty seconds, tops."

The girl giggled. "I'm Lyla," she introduced, holding out her hand.

Adam took her hand. "Adam."

"Well Adam, I don't know about you but I don't really feel like watching these two eat each other's faces off. Let's go somewhere," she suggested. He nodded and she grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the porch.

* * *

An hour later, Adam was actually enjoying himself. He and Lyla had been talking and he found that he really enjoyed her company.

He was laughing at something she said, but it got stuck in his throat when he looked up and realized how close she was. Suddenly, she leaned in and pressed her lips to his.

He thought about kissing her all night, but now that it was happening all that went through his mind was how wrong it felt. He kissed her back for a few seconds before he pulled away.

"I can't," he said, putting some space between them. Lyla looked up at him, obviously disappointed. "There's… I just can't. I'm sorry," he continued, fumbling with his words.

Lyla just kept looking at him. "You're in love with someone else," she guessed, taking him off guard.

Adam thought about it. He had a beautiful girl standing in front of him, who seemed to genuinely be interested in him. She wanted more from him but he pushed her away. Why?

 _She's not Emma._

The corners of his mouth turned up into a sad smile and he looked her in the eyes. "Yeah," he said softly.

Lyla smiled and nodded, backing away to put space between them. Adam grabbed her hand, which caused her to look up at him. "I wish I wasn't," he said.

She smiled at him. "No you don't."

He looked at her sadly. "No, I don't."

* * *

Two days later, Fulton came back to school. Emma asked where Charlie was and Fulton told her that he wasn't coming back.

That's how she found herself knocking on the Conway's apartment door that night after their game. The door swung open to reveal Casey Conway, who warmly welcomed her in with a hug.

"Thank you for coming by. Someone needs to talk some sense into that boy before I kill him," she said. Emma laughed. "I might beat you to it," she joked.

Casey laughed. "He's in his room. Second door on the left." Emma thanked her and followed the directions to Charlie's room.

"Hey stranger," she said, leaning against the door frame.

"We win?" he asked, not looking up from his desk.

"Just barely," she replied, taking a breath before continuing, "We all missed you out there."

Charlie looked up from his spot at his desk and rolled his eyes. "If you're here to try and get me to come back, you're wasting your time."

"Charlie-"

"He killed the ducks!" he yelled, standing up.

"Did he?" she asked, walking further into the room. Charlie looked utterly betrayed. "We're all still here," she explained, "We're still a team, Charlie, whether we're the ducks or not. Staying together is more important than how we stay together."

The captain shook his head. "I'm sorry, Em. I'm not coming back."

Emma sighed. "Yeah, I figured."

"Then why did you come?"

The blonde smiled at him. "To let you know you're not alone. You've always got me."

That got a smile out of him. Thankful for that, she pulled him in for a hug. The two pulled apart when Casey appeared in the doorway with tears in her eyes.

"Mom?" Charlie asked concerned, moving towards her.

"It's Hans," she replied, "he passed away."


	6. Chapter 6

Saturday morning Emma found herself standing in the middle of a cemetery in a black dress. All of the ducks were surrounding her, as well as family and friends of Hans.

Suddenly the preacher was interrupted by none other than Coach Bombay. Mumbling an apology, he quickly pulled out a green piece of cloth. Unfolding it, Emma recognized it as Hans' Duck jersey. Calmly, Bombay laid it over the casket and then turned to his team.

"Every time you touch the ice, remember it was Hans that taught us to fly."

Charlie took a shaky breath and shook his head. He began walking away from the group towards the lake on the other side of the cemetery. Emma touched Casey's shoulder and then followed after Charlie.

Adam watched his ex-girlfriend run after his ex-best friend. When she caught up, she looped her arm in his and walked with him towards the water.

He felt that ache in his chest again. The one he's felt every day since she walked away. Today, though, it was almost unbearable.

 _She's just a girl. She'll only hold you back from everything you've ever wanted._

Since he first learned how to skate, playing in the NHL was his dream. But lately, he'd been doubting that dream. Will all of this even be worth it if this pain in his chest doesn't go away?

* * *

Emma walked back into her dorm room later that night. She went to the mirror and started taking off her jewelry when Anna came barging out of the bathroom, clearly in a rush.

"Long time no see," Emma deadpanned, not looking away from what she was doing.

"Yeah, looks like we've both been busy," Anna replied distractedly.

With everything happening lately, Emma and Anna found themselves in two different worlds. She missed her best friend.

"Are you free tonight? We should hang out, catch up on everything," she suggested. Anna looked up at her and sighed. "I would love to, but I actually have a date."

As if on cue, there was a knock on the door. Since Emma was closest to the door, she figured she would open it. She found none other than Rick Riley standing at the door.

"Well, look who it is," he joked, smirking. Emma slammed the door in his face. "Is this a joke?" she asked seriously, turning around to look at Anna.

"What?" she asked.

"You're going out with him? He's been making my life hell and you know that."

Anna rolled her eyes. "He's nice to me," she replied simply.

Emma looked at her, a mixture of infuriated and hurt. "You're supposed to be my best friend."

"And you're supposed to be mine," Anna fired back defensively. She breathed, calming herself down before continuing. "Things have changed, Emma. You have the Ducks and I made my own friends. I think it's time we moved on."

Emma laughed dryly. "After all we've been through. I can't believe you're doing this," she said disbelievingly. She felt her eyes start to water, but she pushed the tears back down.

Anna shrugged, walking towards the door. "Things have changed," she repeated, before following her date down the hallway.

* * *

Despite everything that happened on Saturday, Emma was pretty happy with how her Sunday turned out.

The ducks put together a pick-up game in the park and they played for hours. The best part was having Bombay with them for the day. It felt like they were back in California.

It's been two weeks since her and Adam broke up and she missed him everyday. But today, she was able to miss him a little less.

 _Maybe this is what moving on feels like._

* * *

Two days later, things were back to being really shitty.

Emma walked into her room, throwing her hockey bag in the corner. She looked around and as usual, Anna was nowhere to be found. She sighed angrily and flopped on her bed, thinking about the game earlier this afternoon.

 _Emma shuffled onto the bus with the rest of her teammates. Once they were all seated, Coach took his place at the front of the bus and began roll call._

" _Conway?" he asked, making everybody look up._

 _Charlie smiled, looking at his teammates. "I wanna be on the team, Coach. I wanna play two-way hockey."_

 _Everyone looked at each other, waiting to hear what Coach was going to say. He smiled. "Take a seat, we're running late."_

 _Everybody cheered as their Captain made his way to the back of the bus. He plopped down next to Emma, who gave his shoulder a good shove. She looked at him questioningly._

 _Charlie shrugged. "Like you said, staying together is more important than how we stay together."_

 _She smiled in return. "It's about time you started listening to me, Conway."_

" _Man you should've seen your face!" Russ said, using his fingers to fake falling tears. "Coach, I just want to play two-way hockey. Can I come back? Please please," he mocked, which caused Charlie to shove him._

" _I almost missed you," Dean said, surprising everyone when he climbed onto the bus. "Coach, do you mind if I have a few words with your boys?" he asked, and when the girls protested, he added, "And girls, of course."_

" _If you can make it quick that'd be great. We're running late," Orion responded._

" _I'm afraid this is important," he said. "There's a board meeting in two weeks and you all are on the agenda. We have to think long term here, and also what's in your best interest. Hard as it is for me personally because you kids are like a breath of fresh air around here, the board is going to approve the withdrawal of your scholarships."_

 _Emma felt her heart drop. She looked around and saw her teammates shocked and disappointed faces._

" _After this semester, we will be scouting for a new hockey team. You are all welcome to stay until the end of the semester, but after that you will have to look for other educational opportunities. You are also welcome to stay longer, but if you choose to do so you will no longer have a scholarship. I'm sorry."_

" _Dean can I have a word with you? Now," Orion snapped, walking off the bus. Dean followed him._

" _Other educational opportunities? What's he saying Russ?" Dwayne asked, leaning forward to talk to him. Russ sighed. "I'll put it into terms you can understand. Adios, amigo," he answered._

 _Charlie stood up and the rest followed, curious to know what Orion was going to say. They all piled around the entrance to the bus and listened to the conversation that was taking place in front of them._

" _So that's it? You're dumping them, just like that?" Orion asked._

" _Coach, I'm sorry. Your team is just not performing. Plus, I've been under enormous pressure," Dean answered._

" _From who? The alumni, a group of aging pep-clubbers?"_

" _Ted, I'm trying to do you a favor. With this team gone, you have a chance to put together your own team," Dean said calmly. "Let's face it, the Ducks are drowning."_

" _I got my team," Orion said, surprising everyone, "they stay or I go."_

 _Dean smiled and calmly touched Orion's shoulder. "We'll miss you, Ted," he said, walking away. Everyone piled out of the bus and headed over to Coach._

" _We're just pawns," Averman ranted, "puppets for a stage show to entertain the king-"_

" _Shut up," Russ said loudly, putting a hand up to cut him off._

" _Coach is this legal? I mean, don't we have contracts or something?" Goldberg asked._

" _I don't know what it is. All I know is we're gonna fight it," he replied, making everyone smile. "Alright, back on the bus. We've got a game to get to."_

Emma wasn't stupid. She knew her hockey career was going to end after college. But it was still nice to have a scholarship to a really good school and the chance to play the sport she loved with her friends one last time.

Now, it was all going to end sooner than she expected.

When her father died four years ago, he left her and her mom a pretty good fortune. They were able to live comfortably and Emma had plenty of money secured for college, which meant she could afford to stay there. But did she want to?

She knew most of the ducks couldn't afford to stay here, which meant they would all have to transfer to different colleges. Plus, in the month and a half that she's been here she had her heart broken twice. So maybe leaving this place would be a good thing.

Maybe it really is time to move on.


	7. Chapter 7

**I added more to Chapter 5 that will fit into the story later on. Enjoy!  
-T**

* * *

The week came and went and Emma found herself staring at her calendar. As she scanned through the dates, her heart stopped when she realized what tomorrow was.

Tomorrow was her court date.

For the past year, they were locked in a legal battle. Because Blake had citizenship in another country, it took longer to charge him with his crimes and make negotiations. The court date kept getting pushed back and now a year later, it was all set.

Tomorrow, she would have to face Blake Anderson again.

The thought of seeing him again made her sick. He caused her so much pain, so much unnecessary torture, and he had the chance to do it one more time.

Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to put the thoughts in the back of her mind and get through the day.

* * *

Adam picked through his lunch, pretending to listen to what his teammates were talking about. In truth, his mind was a million miles away.

Suddenly, he felt someone sit down next to him. He didn't even bother looking up, knowing it was Anna. She sat with the team for lunch now and Adam really enjoyed having a familiar face around.

Today, however, was a little different.

"You know what tomorrow is, right?" she asked quietly.

Adam didn't have to look at her to know she felt guilty. He knew she could hear it in his voice too. "I don't think I could forget even if I tried," he said, pausing before asking the question that had been bugging him all day. "Do you think we should go?"

Anna looked up at him, then over to her ex-best friend. Adam's eyes followed hers. The blonde was smiling, but Adam still knew her well enough to see that she had a lot on her mind. Anna shook her head beside him.

"She doesn't want us there. We'll only make it worse."

* * *

The next morning, Emma walked through the doors of the courthouse. Upon seeing the room where the trial would be held, she stopped in her tracks. Her mom looped through hers and waited patiently for her to begin walking again. Taking a deep breath, she braced herself and picked up her pace again.

 _I can do this._

The two women entered the courtroom and found their seats at the front. Emma turned around and her eyes immediately scanned the room, looking for two familiar faces that weren't there. A few minutes later the trial began. The judge requested that Blake be brought in and Emma felt herself shaking. She looked around the room one last time.

 _They aren't coming. They don't care about you. Move on._

She wasn't stupid. She didn't expect them to be there, but apparently her heart had other thoughts. Thoughts that only led to her being disappointed.

She turned back around and braced herself for what was to come. Blake made his way to the front of the room with a smirk on his face and immediately his eyes met Emma's. Every instinct she had was to turn away and make herself invisible, but she didn't want to live that way anymore.

 _You are not some scared little girl. Fight back._

Steeling herself, she stared straight back at him with an expressionless face. Blake was clearly taken aback by the challenge. He scowled and turned to take his seat.

Two hours later, Emma was up on the stand. She had just recapped their entire relationship and she was exhausted from it. After calling him out for his abuse, Blake jumped up and called her a liar, which prompted the judge to call a short recess.

Emma immediately shot up from her seat and took off out the doors into the cold Minnesota air. She sat down on the stairs and wrapped her arms around herself, breathing in the frosty atmosphere.

"Emma, it's freezing out here!" Natalia yelled, walking over to her daughter. Emma just nodded. The cold helped keep herself together, even if she was just hanging on by a thread. "Come inside," her mother urged.

She shook her head, "I need a minute."

Natalia still persisted, "You're going to get sick, Emma."

"Damn it mom, leave me alone! I said I need a minute." Emma snapped.

Neither said a word after that. Natalia sat down next to her daughter, looking out to the crowded street. It was silent for a minute before Emma spoke softly.

"They didn't come."

Natalia just sighed and took her daughter in her arms.

* * *

"Has the jury come to a decision?"

"We have, your honor."

Emma's heart was pounding as she waited to hear the verdict. After a long day of testimonies, arguments and talking she was ready for it to be over. Squeezing her eyes shut, she listened for their responses.

"On the count of domestic violence, how do you find the defendant?"

"Guilty."

"On the count of assault and battery, how do you find the defendant?"

"Guilty."

"On the count of attempted murder, how do you find the defendant?"

"Not guilty."

Emma's heart stopped beating when she heard the last one. She felt her mother grab her hand and the two waited in silence for the judge to give his sentence.

"I hereby sentence Blake Anderson to two years probation and three years denial to enter the United States."

Emma couldn't breathe. The room erupted in shouts, but she couldn't hear anything. She couldn't hear her mom yelling or her attorney's failed attempts to calm her down. The only thing she could hear was her heart racing.

Slowly, she picked up her head to look at Blake only to find him already staring at her. A wicked grin broke out across his face and she could practically hear him in her head.

 _This isn't over._

Suddenly she was overcome with anger. This wasn't the outcome that she hoped for. He almost _killed_ her and that was all he got? Now he's gonna go back home and do it all again because apparently he could get away with it.

She knew he was going to always have someone to torture but damn it, it was not going to be her. Not anymore. She was not going to fear him anymore.

"Your honor, I would also like to request a restraining order against him. This man has tortured me for far too long and I'm not going to let that happen any longer," Emma said confidently. "I don't agree with your sentencing but I can accept it if you agree to this."

The judge looked at her, impressed at her determination. He nodded his head, "Granted."

Smirking, she looked back over to Blake.

 _No. This ends today._

* * *

 **So I know trials usually run for weeks but I'm pretending it's only a day. This is mainly just a filler chapter so that I can get to the good stuff. Thanks for reading!  
-T**


	8. Chapter 8

Emma took a deep breath as she shut the door to her dorm room. Throwing her heels in the corner, she began rummaging through her closet to find sweatpants. She was so deep in her own thoughts that she didn't hear Anna come into the room.

"How did it go?" Anna asked.

She was still for a few minutes, debating on what she was going to say. Should she tell her everything? _No. If she cared she would've been there._ Eventually, she bit out a reply, "Do you actually give a damn?"

Anna sighed, "You know I do."

Abandoning her search, Emma turned around to confront her. "Do I? As I recall, you told me we were no longer friends."

"I know and I'm sorry," the brunette began. "I didn't mean any of that. I broke up with Rick two days ago. The only reason I went out with him was to piss you off. I was jealous because you have a whole other life here, one that I'm not part of. But I was wrong and I miss you and I am so sorry."

"That doesn't change what you did!" Emma snapped furiously. It was silent for a few seconds before she spoke up again, quietly this time. "That doesn't change the fact that you weren't there today. I needed you and you weren't there." She could hear her voice cracking on the last few words, but she refused to let any tears fall.

Anna just stared back at her, eyes full of shame. Emma wordlessly walked past her to get to Connie and Julie's door. The two immediately opened the door with questioning looks on their faces. All Emma had to do was shake her head before the two girls pulled her in for a hug.

* * *

Adam was in the middle of his homework when he was interrupted by a knock on the door. He opened the door to find Anna standing there with tears running down her face.

"Remind me why we're doing this again?" she said walking into the room.

Adam sighed, "It's better this way."

"She hates me," the girl said softly.

Adam sighed and pulled the girl in for a hug. "Me too," he whispered, feeling the pain in his own chest.

* * *

A week later Emma walked into the building that would hold the meeting that decided her future.

The Ducks waited outside the room quietly, each hoping that this wouldn't be the end for them. They were having a big conversation when Averman motioned to the door. Adam had just walked in and was headed toward them.

"What, are you here to watch the show with the rest of your teammates?" Charlie asked sarcastically.

"I'm a freshman too, Charlie," he responded.

That realization seemed to hit and it shut everyone up. Emma looked at him and noticed the bags under his eyes and his disheveled hair that he had clearly been running his hands through. A few seconds ago she was sure he was still just a preppy asshole, but looking at him now she only saw someone whose whole life could crumble in the next few minutes. His goal in life was to play professional hockey and he worked at it every day. Now, his whole future was up in the air.

"Look," Adam continued, "I just wanted to say I'm really sorry. For everything." He glanced at Emma but she just looked away. "Ever since my first hockey game my dad has been pushing me to be the best. Him and Riley both got in my head and I started putting hockey and my dreams above everything else. You guys were my friends and I let you down. I'm sorry."

A few Ducks murmured words of forgiveness, but Charlie wasn't having it. "How do we know you mean it?"

"I told Riley that I wasn't going to be playing on Varsity anymore. If my hockey career is going to end here, I want to spend it playing with you guys. With the Ducks."

That surprised Charlie. He knew how much Adam wanted a future in the NHL, so giving up his spot on the Varsity was a big deal. He glanced at Emma and noticed she was surprised too. When she met his eyes, she gave him reassurance that it was okay to let Adam back in.

"You're still a cake eater," he said, smiling. Adam laughed in response.

* * *

"Do we have a motion to reconsider?" Dean asked the Board, who were seated in the middle of the room. He was greeted with silence. It was clear nobody was going to change their minds.

"I'm sorry Coach, but unless there is a motion from a board member and a second, the decision must stand," he told Orion.

Across the room, the Varsity players grinned smugly and began celebrating. Emma's eyes met the ground. This was really happening. It was really over.

She didn't know how wrong she was.

"Then you leave us no choice but to bring in our attorney," Orion said.

The Ducks looked at one another confused while the rest of the room began talking in quiet murmurs. Emma looked at her teammates and realized they were just as lost as she was. Then she turned to Charlie, who had a huge smirk on his face. She elbowed him, silently asking what he was up to. He just grinned.

Suddenly, the door opened and in walked a familiar face that caused everyone else to smile.

"Dean Buckley, members of the board," Bombay addressed as he walked in. "As council for Coach Orion and the freshman hockey team, I'm here to discuss your legal options so that we can make the best possible decision for all parties concerned."

"Mr. Bombay, this is not a legal preceding," Dean tried to explain.

"Not yet," Bombay answered, "but I can assure you that it will be." He handed Dean his briefcase and pulled out one of the contracts all of the players were required to sign.

"These scholarships, an offer, became a binding contract upon the signatures of the recipients. They cannot be voided except for cause, which I guarantee that you have none. Should you decide to pursue their cancellation, I will slap you with an injunction and I will tie this matter up in court for years, until long after these kids have graduated. And I will collect damages. I will win, because I am very, very good. You wanna know why I'm so good? Because I had a good education. You gave it to me, and you're gonna give it to these kids."

"He is good," Orion whispered to Charlie.

"Just getting started," Charlie responded knowingly.

"Now some of you may be snobbish enough to believe these Ducks don't belong at Eden Hall," Bombay continued, glancing over at the Varsity players. "But you are dead wrong. These are remarkable kids. You give them their full shot and I promise you they will succeed not only on the ice, but in the classrooms as well. These people are my friends, and I know what they can do."

"Accordingly, I demand that you reinstate their scholarships for their benefit and for your own," he finished.

The board began talking in hushed tones, trying to figure out what they were going to do. Everybody held their breath as they waited. Finally, after a few seconds, everything changed.

"I move that the scholarships be reinstated," one lady said exasperatedly. "Is there a second?" Dean asked. A moment later, the man seated next to the woman raised his hand. The Dean asked for all in favor and it became unanimous.

"Scholarships reinstated," he declared.

One half of the room erupted in cheers. It was official, they were staying. They began making their way out of the room and Emma laughed when she felt Charlie pick her up from behind and spin her around.

"I've got some business in Chicago, but I'll be back soon. If you need anything, call me and let me know, okay?" Bombay said, walking up to the two of them. They thanked him and said goodbye.

"Hi Charlie," Linda said excitedly, coming up to them.

Emma gave him a look and slowly backed out of the conversation. In the midst of being a good friend she backed right into another person. Turning around, she was met with blue eyes she couldn't seem to get away from.

"Hey," Adam said awkwardly. "Hey," she responded.

"Looks like we're staying," he said, trying to make conversation. "Yeah, now you can go and live your dreams," Emma said emotionlessly.

Adam's smile faded at her response. "Emma-"

"I really don't want to do this right now, Adam," she said, effectively cutting him off.

She knew where this conversation was going and she didn't want to deal with it. He opened his mouth to say something else when the two saw Riley approach the rest of their team.

"Congratulations on destroying our school," he said, staring Charlie down.

"It's our school too," Ken said quietly.

"It's everyone's school you stupid jock," Linda bit out.

"No it'll never be your school, don't you get it? You're our own little affirmative action brought in for color just to entertain us. But you couldn't even do that, could you? Your fancy lawyer kept you in on a technicality. You'll never belong," Riley said.

"You're just a bunch of rejects here on a free ride," Cole added.

"Free ride? Look at you, rich boy. Mommy and Daddy gave you everything, huh?" Russ asked sarcastically.

"Hey, the JV-Varsity game is on Friday. We'll show the whole school who you really are and maybe then you'll leave on your own," Riley said. He reached out to straighten Charlie's tie, but Charlie quickly slapped his hand away. "It'd be the honorable thing to do."

"You know we're gonna hurt you," Cole said.

"Listen, you guys had an unfair advantage last time. You had one of us, Banksie," Charlie responded.

"Oh, well keep him. He never had the heart of a Warrior anyway," Riley answered, staring straight at Adam. Emma glanced at Adam to find him staring right back at Riley.

"Hey Riley, one more thing. After we beat you, the Warriors die and the Ducks fly," Russ challenged.

Riley scoffed. "Anything you say, loser." The group around him laughed and walked away.

"Good move, Russ, make him even madder," Averman said once they walked away. "Charlie, we gotta do something man."

"You're right. We gotta get to work," he answered. He walked away, the rest of the group not far behind him.


	9. Chapter 9

The next morning, Emma walked into her room after breakfast with the team to find Anna sitting on her bed, playing with her fingers nervously. She looked up when she heard the door close.

"Can we talk?" she asked softly.

"I don't have time right now," Emma lied. She was still really angry with the girl and she didn't want to have any sort of conversation with her at the moment.

"Emma I'm sorry, I really am," Anna apologized again. Emma just shook her head. "I was being stupid and I acted like a jealous, petty bitch. We've been inseparable since we were five. Can we please be best friends again?"

"But you're not my best friend, are you?" Emma asked bitterly. "If you were my best friend, you would've been there for me. That day felt like I was living my own personal hell, Anna. I needed you there with me, but you weren't. And what hurts the most about that is that I have _always_ been there for you."

"We were there," Anna blurted out before she could regret it.

"We?"

"Adam and I. We were there."

Emma stood there, completely confused. They couldn't have been there, she would've seen them. "I searched that room about 15 times. I didn't see you anywhere, stop lying."

"It's true, Emma. We weren't going to go because we thought it would've made everything worse for you, but we decided to go anyway. We stayed seated all the way in the back so you couldn't see us."

"I don't believe you," she said, shaking her head and turning to walk out the door.

She walked into the dorm lobby and sat down on the couch. Her head was spinning. What the hell was going on? She couldn't tell if Anna was lying or telling her the truth. At that moment, her phone rang. "Hey, mom," she answered, picking up.

"Hi sweetie, how are you?"

"I'm alright. Anna and I got into another fight."

"What happened this time?" Natalia asked, sighing into the phone.

"She apologized to me again but I didn't accept it. I brought up how she wasn't at the trial and she tried telling me that her and Adam were there. I can't believe she would lie about that," Emma explained. Her mom was silent on the other end of the phone, which Emma caught onto immediately. "Mom?" she asked.

Natalia sighed. "I thought I saw them there. It was just a glance, but it looked like them."

Now Emma's head felt like it was going to explode. "What? Why didn't you tell me?" she asked angrily. How could her mom not tell her she thought they were there?

"I saw how disappointed you were when you didn't see them. I didn't want to get your hopes up if it turned out it wasn't them. The trial put enough stress on you as it was," her mom reasoned, "I'm sorry, honey."

"It's okay," Emma responded, feeling bad about yelling at her. Her mom only wanted the best for her. "But I gotta go. I'll call you later." They exchanged goodbyes and she hung up.

She pulled herself up off the couch and headed upstairs towards Adam's room. She needed to talk to him about this. Was he really there? Why would he come if they were broken up?

She was getting ready to round the corner when she heard two familiar voices. Rolling her eyes, she slowed her pace, hoping they'd disappear into a room so she wouldn't have to deal with them.

"I can't believe Banks actually left the team," Cole said, "I thought he was smarter than that."

She stopped completely at the mention of Adam's name and leaned back against the wall.

Riley scoffed, "The kid was bound to go back to the Ducks. He was too whipped by that bitch."

"We should mess with him, remind him what happens when you leave us hanging," Cole suggested.

"Already two steps ahead of you, dude. Here's the plan. We're going to tell everyone about Emma and that boy back at the Goodwill Games. She'll blame it on him and Conway will kick him off the team for good."

Cole laughed. Emma could imagine the smirk on his face. "How did you even find out about that anyway?"

"Perks of having a father on the school board. He knows everything. I snuck into his office to read some files on the team and I came across hers. It was a gold mine," Riley said, snickering.

Their voices faded down the hall as Emma felt her heart stop beating. She leaned her head against the wall and stared up at the ceiling. _Shit._ Adam didn't tell Riley anything, he found out himself.

 _What have I done?_

She took off running up the remaining flights of stairs and headed for his room.

When she arrived, she knocked on the door. He opened it, a look of confusion on his face as she pushed past him to enter the room. She looked around to find that Charlie wasn't there and then looked back at Adam.

"Emma, what-"

"You didn't tell Riley anything," she said, cutting him off.

Adam was confused. Where was this coming from? "I didn't," he answered simply.

"And you were at the trial."

He sighed. He figured Anna was gonna tell her eventually. "I was."

"Why? I blamed you for something you didn't do. I was awful to you. Why would you come?" she asked frustratedly. Her eyes were full of tears.

"I wasn't going to leave you alone to deal with that, Emma. Even if I was mad at you."

His answer caused tears to spill out of her eyes. "I'm so sorry," she whispered. "I didn't want to believe that you would do that to me, but I convinced myself that you were this awful person. I should have trusted you. I should have believed in you. God, I'm sorry."

Adam nodded in response. He knew the easy part was to forgive her. What came next was gonna tear his heart out.

"I forgive you, Emma. But I can't be with you. Not right now, at least," he said sadly.

Emma felt her heart breaking. As much as she wanted him to take her back, she knew she didn't deserve it. She forced herself to keep her composure as she listened to his explanation.

"We were together for a year and I thought you trusted me. But as soon as Riley mentioned Blake's name, you immediately blamed me for it. You didn't trust me. And that made me wonder if you ever trusted me at all."

"Of course I did," she answered. He nodded his head, a sad smile on his face. "I love you, and I know you love me, but we can't be together right now."

She nodded her head, signaling that he didn't have to explain any more. "It's okay, I understand," she said quickly. She headed for the door, ready to get the hell out of there and back to her room.

"Emma?" Adam called from behind her. She stopped and turned around to face him. "I'm sorry."

She gave him a watery, sad smile. "Me too."

Adam watched the door close behind her. His chest ached where his heart used to be, but it went with the girl who walked out the door.

Maybe someday he'd get it back. Maybe someday he'd get her back.


	10. Chapter 10

Emma closed the door to her room and leaned her body against it, closing her eyes. She opened them when the bathroom door opened and Anna walked out. It was silent for a moment, both girls staring at each other, until Anna finally decided to speak.

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too," Emma responded softly.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Em. I acted like an idiot. You had every right to be pissed at me."

Emma dismissed her explanation with a wave of her hand. "We're both at fault. It's okay, really. I forgive you."

Anna grinned and immediately tackled her best friend in a hug. The door to the bathroom opened again to reveal Connie and Julie. They stopped in their tracks and smiled.

"Are we all friends again?" Connie asked hopefully. When the two girls nodded their heads, Connie and Julie joined in on the hug excitedly.

"So, I'm assuming you talked to Adam?" Anna asked when they separated. The smile on Emma's face fell and she averted her gaze to the floor. "Emma?"

She composed herself and looked back up at her friends. "We're not getting back together," she answered.

The girls were confused. "Why not?" Julie asked incredulously.

"Because I didn't trust him. I didn't believe in him. He doesn't want to be with someone like that and I get that," she said, looking back down at the floor. She had to keep herself together. "I was the one who screwed everything up. Now I just have to live with the fact that I let him go."

"Emma," Anna said sadly. She reached for her, but Emma immediately put her hands up, signaling that she didn't want to be touched.

"No, no. If you hug me then I'm gonna start crying and if I start crying, I'm afraid I'll never stop," she said, voice cracking.

The girls took the hint and backed off, quickly changing the subject. For the rest of the day, they hung out like old times. Emma looked at her friends and smiled, it was good to have this back.

* * *

The next week consisted of the Ducks working their asses off, getting ready to face the Varsity.

" _Let's go guys, pick it up!" Charlie yelled as they were skating laps around the rink._

 _Orion blew his whistle and immediately everyone circled around him and took a knee._

" _Alright, I've been doing my homework on the Varsity. I'm not gonna lie to you, they're good. The way they wiped your faces in the dirt last time was no fluke. So if you want your pride back, you're gonna have to work. There's nothing glamorous about it. In the pros, we call it blue-collar hockey," Orion said, looking around at all of his players._

" _Now, there's one thing the Varsity is acceptable at. They are vultures around the net. They pick up every piece of loose trash. That's how they beat you, not with the first shot, but the second and the third. They bang in the junk. So if you want to win," he continued, picking up a trash can and dumping it out onto the ice, "you're gonna have to pick up the trash."_

 _Russ put a gloved hand over his face and complained at the stench. Averman picked up a bagel. "Got any cream cheese?" he asked jokingly._

 _Orion blew the whistle and they split up on both sides of the goal. They took turns hitting the junk around the ice, trying to keep it away from the goal._

 _The next day, Orion had them skating up and down the streets of Minneapolis, picking up trash on the streets and the rest of the week was spent running drills and scrimmaging._

Today was the last day of practice before the big game tomorrow night. The Ducks were exhausted, but nobody was complaining. They all wanted to win tomorrow.

Emma just finished putting her gear on when Adam walked up to his locker right next to hers. He smiled and mumbled a hello, which Emma returned. She immediately picked up the rest of her gear and headed for the ice, hoping to get away from the awkwardness.

She knew that with Adam back on the team she would obviously be seeing him every day. But since Adam and Charlie were best friends again, and she and Charlie were best friends, she saw him a lot more than she originally planned to.

When they were out with the group it wasn't awkward. They were able to make small talk and joke around. But when it was just them, it was like they didn't know how to talk to one another. Their hangouts with Charlie mostly consisted of short answers and avoiding eye contact.

It really sucked.

During the year they spent in different states, they would stay up for hours talking on the phone. Most of it was stupid little stuff, but sometimes they would talk about important things. He was the person she could go to when she needed advice or when she just needed someone to listen. She told him everything about her life and she learned everything about his too. Somewhere along the line, he also became her best friend.

She missed talking to him.

Little did she know, he missed talking to her too.

* * *

The Ducks were doing their daily practice routine of clearing the garbage away from the net when Orion blew his whistle. They stopped, waiting to see what he was going to say.

"Let's go, get over here!" he yelled.

The players quickly circled around him and took a knee.

"You guys are not skating like Warriors," he yelled angrily. The Ducks made noises of protest, wondering what else they could possibly do to get Orion's approval. "You look like something else," he continued, opening the box next to him.

"You look like Ducks."

He picked up an old Ducks' jersey from the box and threw it to the owner. The team cheered, picking themselves up and skating over to find their own jersey in the pile.

After that, Orion sent them home to rest.

Tomorrow, everything was going to change.


	11. Chapter 11

Friday. Game day.

That's all anyone seemed to talk about around campus and the Ducks were no exception.

Adam, Charlie, Anna and Emma were walking to class, discussing game plans and Varsity player profiles. They were in their own little world. Charlie was in the middle of pointing out Scooter's weaknesses when a feminine voice interrupted him.

"Adam!" Lyla yelled from where she was seated on the grass.

"Hey!" he responded, waving. "I'll be right back," he said to the group and jogged over to the girl with a smile on his face. "What's up?" he asked, crouching down to talk to her.

"You tell me. I heard you quit the Varsity," she answered.

Adam sighed. "Yeah, they weren't my team. The Ducks are."

She smiled at him. "Hey, I get it. It's not exactly a team I'd want to be on either. Besides, you're better than them."

He smiled back and nodded in thanks. "You coming to the game tonight?"

"Please, like I would miss it."

"Cool, I'll see you later," he said, standing up and walking away.

Lyla yelled his name, waiting for him to turn around. "Score a goal for me," she said, playfully winking.

He laughed before turning around and walking back to the group. They immediately fell back into a conversation about the game tonight, and he was thankful nobody made any comments about the girl. Looking around, he noticed Emma wasn't there. He shook it off, telling himself that she probably needed to get to class early.

 _You're an idiot. You know that's not why._

Maybe. But it was easier to pretend otherwise.

* * *

Emma watched as Adam approached the girl with a big smile on his face. Who was she? How did she know Adam?

Why the fuck was she so perfect?

"Who is that?" she asked Charlie.

He shrugged. "Don't know, but she's hot," he said absentmindedly. Anna elbowed him hard, motioning to Emma, who looked hurt. _Oh. Fuck._ He grabbed her by the arm and turned her so she was facing him. "Come on Em, she's got nothin' on you," he said, trying to cheer her up.

Emma looked back at the two. They were smiling and Adam was laughing at something she was saying. She used to make him laugh like that.

 _It's over now. You fucked it up._

"She's got Adam," she said sadly before walking away.

* * *

An hour and a half before game time, Emma was walking through the parking lot to the arena. Glancing to her left, she saw Adam heading towards the doors too. She stopped in her tracks and closed her eyes, thinking her next moves through.

Her head has been spinning since she saw Adam with that girl this morning. After hours of contemplation, she came to a final decision.

She was going to let him go.

She knew she needed to talk to him, get closure and all that, but she was originally planning to wait until after the game. Now, he was a few feet away from her and she kinda wanted to just get it over with.

 _If you don't do it now, you're never going to do it._

She made up her mind, exhaled shakily and picked up her pace towards him. "Adam," she called. He turned around and stopped, waiting for her to catch up. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

He agreed, following her over to the side of the building. "What's up?" he asked.

Emma closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath. She turned to face him, crossing her arms over her chest protectively.

"I was going to wait until after the game, but I need to do this now. I'm sorry," she started.

"Do what now? What's going on?" he asked, completely lost.

"I just wanted you to know that you deserve better than what I gave you. You deserve someone who trusts you, and believes in you, and pushes you to reach the goals I know you can reach. That girl, she's out there somewhere. I hope you find her and I hope she makes you really happy."

Adam furrowed his brows. Where did this come from? And why did this sound like a goodbye?

"Emma, why are you telling me this?" he asked, hesitantly. He almost didn't want to hear her response.

"I love you. I'll probably always love you," she said with a dry laugh. She could feel tears threatening to come out, but she refused to let them. "But I'll be okay if we aren't together as long as you're happy. Because honestly Adam, that's all I ever want for you."

Adam's head was spinning and his chest ached. _She's saying goodbye._

"I just needed you to know that," she finished. She quickly picked up her bag and walked away before he could say a word.

Adam stood rooted to his spot, watching her walk away. He couldn't believe it.

 _What else did you expect?_

He told her he couldn't be with her because he needed somebody who believed in him, and she didn't. She wasn't going to wait around for him if he didn't want her. In fact, she just did him a favor and gave him reassurance that it was okay to move on.

But did he really want to?

* * *

The locker room was silent as the Ducks sat on the benches, lost in their own thoughts. Minutes later, Coach walked in. He looked around at his players and then walked up to the white board on the wall. He picked up a marker and wrote one word on it.

 _Victory._

The players all looked around at each other, smiles breaking out on their faces.

"Let's go," Coach said calmly. The team cheered and followed their Coach out of the locker room.

Adam looked around at the sold out arena. His eyes immediately found Lyla, who was seated in the middle of the student section. She winked at him, which caused his face to flush. She was beautiful and obviously interested in him. Maybe he should give her a chance.

Charlie stopped the team right before the entrance to the rink. He looked around at the crowd and then back at his team.

"This is for Hans."

The team nodded, skating onto the ice one after another. When they all got onto the ice, they made a circle and reached down to touch the ice. According to Averman, it was a Norwegian symbol of respect, and they all agreed it was a perfect way to honor him.

Ten minutes later, warm ups were over and the Ducks huddled around their bench. They waited for Coach to begin his pep talk.

"Alright, let's go hunting for goose eggs," he said, putting his hand in the circle. The team joined him. "On three, we quack," he said, surprising everyone.

The Ducks grinned and began quacking on Orion's count. Soon enough, the whole arena joined in. After the chant, they took their places on the ice, ready to face the Varsity.

Adam skated to center ice, waiting for the face off. Riley skated up to him, a big smirk on his face.

"You're gonna wish like hell you stuck with us," he said cockily.

"Save the trash talk," he responded, angrily.

Before that comment, Adam's mind was far away from this hockey game. Emma's words kept replaying in his mind, making it hard to focus on anything else. Now, Riley was standing in front of him with a cocky smirk on his face and all he could think about was how angry he was. The break up, Emma's goodbye, it was all his fault.

Putting his stick down on the ice, his mind was completely focused on winning this game. It was payback time.

The puck dropped and immediately Riley knocked Adam down, a way of reminding him where his place was. The Varsity took control of the puck and took off toward the goal with it. Julie blocked the shot, but when Fulton cleared it the Varsity immediately got control again.

They shot at the goal again and Goldberg deflected it. Still, the Varsity persisted, trying to get the goal. Julie jumped on the puck and held onto it until the whistle blew.

"Get off of me!" she yelled. They all cleared away from the net and got into position for another face off.

"Why'd you come back?" Riley asked as Charlie met him for the face off.

"Unfinished business."

"We'll finish it for you."

The puck dropped and Charlie held off Riley, allowing Dwayne to get the puck. He skated along the side of the rink, but several Varsity players and Ducks crashed into him.

Varsity got control of the puck again and shot it, but Julie made another save. Charlie took it from behind the net, but Riley sent him right into the boards. Again, they shot at the net but it went wide.

No matter where the Ducks cleared it, the puck fell back into Varsity hands.

Finally, Charlie managed to clear the puck, sending it down into the Varsity zone. Emma and Charlie stopped at the goalie, checking on Julie.

"Way to hang tough," Charlie said, praising Julie.

"These guys keep charging," Emma said, already tired. "What are we gonna do?"

"We gotta stand up to them. Play a little defense, alright?" he said confidently, skating away. Emma nodded, skating after him.

A few minutes later, Varsity still had control of the puck. They took another shot at the goal and Julie stopped it. But the Varsity kept trying to hit it in.

"Clear the puck! Get with it defense!" Julie yelled to her teammates surrounding her.

Finally, Dwayne was able to get control of it and took it up the ice towards Scooter. He passed it to Charlie, who took the shot, but Scooter saved it. The game was still scoreless.

On the next play, Riley again took the puck up the ice. He shot at the goal and when it didn't go in, they kept trying to get it. With the mix of Ducks and Warriors in front of the net, Julie couldn't keep her eyes on the puck. She managed to see it a split second before anybody else and pounced on it, effectively ending the play.

* * *

The second period began and the score was still tied at zero. But the Warriors were dead set on scoring a goal, any way they could.

The Varsity picked up the hitting drastically. Emma watched as Adam was tossed over Cole's back, and not too long after the same happened to her. The Ducks were getting seriously beat up.

Orion kept changing the line, trying to give his team a chance to recover from the hits they were taking. The crowd was protesting, yelling for the refs to call something, but no calls were made.

One of the Varsity players cross-checked Russ, who fell into the goal along with a pile of other players. This whistle blew to end the play, but no penalty was called. Angry at the way Wilson was coaching, Orion hit the glass median with his clipboard. Wilson just shrugged, a huge smirk on his face.

Averman took control of the puck, but was sent into the boards by Cole and Riley. He slowly sunk down onto the ice, but was hit again by another player. The entire bench jumped up, yelling in protest. They watched as Averman was helped onto the bench. "Hi Coach," he said, obviously in a daze. Orion helped him to sit down.

"Watch yourselves, Ducks. They're head hunting," Coach said, calling for another change up.

Varsity once again had the puck and took another shot at the net. It went wide, and Julie went to get it. Somebody pushed Goldberg, which caused him to trip Julie. The net was open and Riley took a shot at it. By some miracle, Julie was able to scramble over to the net and put her glove down over the puck before it crossed the goal line.

The bench erupted into cheers, but it was short lived. The Varsity once again had control of the puck. They shot at the net, and again Julie saved it. Guy took control of it, but wasn't able to see the Varsity player behind him. He was slammed into the boards and went down.

The team watched worriedly, waiting to see if Guy was okay. He managed to get up, and with the help of the trainer, skated off the ice into the locker room.

"That's hockey!" Emma heard Wilson yell from her spot on the ice.

With a few seconds left in the second period, Charlie managed to steal the puck. He headed up center ice on a breakaway. He shot the puck, but Scooter managed to save it.

The second period ended and still no score.


	12. Chapter 12

The locker room was quiet, with the exception of the trainer talking to Guy. Emma looked at her teammates. Everyone was exhausted and hopeless.

"You're playing hard. I'm proud of you guys," Orion said, patting Russ on the shoulder.

"They're cheap shotting us to death, Coach," Luis complained.

"I know they are."

"It's gonna take a miracle for us to hold on," Averman said, voicing the team's thoughts.

Suddenly, the door swung open.

"Dean Portman is awarded a full academic and athletic scholarship to Eden Hall Academy," Portman read, walking into the room.

The locker room broke out in smiles, looking at each other knowingly. The miracle has arrived.

"I had this lying around the house in Chicago and my attorney thought I should sign it. It's official boys, I'm back!"

The team cheered, all getting up to greet Portman. He quickly changed, and then they took out onto the ice with a renewed spirit. The crowd erupted in cheers when Portman came out. He egged them on, yelling excitedly.

After a quick talk at the bench, the starters, including Portman, headed to center ice to get ready for the puck drop.

"Oh look, it's the other bash brother," Cole said to Portman, "I'm really shaking now."

"So you're the big enforcer, huh? It's nice to meet you. You know, we have something in common-"

"Shut up."

Dean laughed. "Whatever you say, sunshine."

Emma smirked and waited for everyone to take their positions. The puck dropped and Adam got control of it.

"Let's see what you got bash brother," Cole yelled, charging at Portman.

Portman stood there laughing, and then sent Cole flying over his back, through the glass, into the stands. The ref blew the whistle, but play stopped long before that.

The Ducks skated over to Portman, looking through the glass at Cole, who was trying to stand up. They all laughed.

"Now that's clearing the garbage," Fulton said.

"Hey man, we're just getting warmed up!" Portman responded.

Another faceoff happened and immediately after the puck dropped, the bash brothers came charging at Riley. With Adam's help, they sent him to the ice and allowed the Ducks to have control of the puck.

Portman and Fulton were bashing every player they could find into the boards. Even Goldberg joined in, shoving players to the ground.

A few plays later, Guy took control of the puck. At Averman's call, he sent the puck over to him. He faked a shot and passed it back to Luis. He shot the puck and Scooter blocked it. He was still pretty bad at stopping, so as usual he ran right into the boards.

With two minutes left, Riley had control of the puck. He took it towards the net, but was stopped by Portman. The ref blew the whistle, calling it a penalty for hooking.

"Come on!" Orion yelled from the bench, obviously pissed at the call.

Adam sighed and patted Portman on the back. Of course, the refs hadn't made a call the entire game and now they decided to. A shitty call at that.

The team watched as Portman headed for the penalty box, still loudly protesting. When he got to the penalty box, he yelled, throwing his stuff in and jumping on the bench. The band started playing, egging him on further. A few seconds later, he hopped off the bench and began taking his clothes off. He was completely shirtless, dancing around in the penalty box and the crowd loved it. His teammates were laughing, realizing how much they missed Portman and his ridiculous antics.

A few seconds into the next play, Orion called for a line change. By mistake, one of the players hopped off the bench early and the ref caught it.

"We got too many men on the ice," the ref said, skating over to Orion.

"Alright, Luis back on the bench. Wu, go to the box."

The players sat down sadly. They were never going to make it now.

"Time out!" Orion called.

Russ, Emma, Adam, Guy and Julie skated over to the bench, waiting to hear what Orion was going to say.

"Listen to me, the pressure is all on them," Orion said, reminding the team to stay confident. "All we gotta do is hold our ground. Okay, Conway, Banks and Goldberg, we're going with you three."

The team nodded along with the first two, but then looked surprisingly at Goldberg when Coach said his name. He looked surprised himself.

"Me, Coach?" he said, shocked.

"Yes, Goldberg. You earned your spot out there." Everybody nodded their heads in agreement. "Okay, Ducks. Here we go, let's go!"

The team cheered as Adam and Goldberg headed out onto the ice. Charlie held the door open, waiting for his teammates to come in.

"Hey Charlie," Orion said, stopping him, "we've really backed ourselves into a corner here. If we hold them for two minutes, we've got ourselves a tie."

"We're up for it, Coach," Charlie said.

"I know you are, but you deserve to win. Not careless, but not too careful either. If you see your shot, take it. But make sure it counts." He reached for something in his pocket, before pulling it out and pressing it to Charlie's jersey. He pulled his hand back and Emma grinned when she saw a C. "Go get 'em, Captain."

Charlie smiled and skated onto the ice. The Ducks all cheered excitedly, hoping by some miracle they could hold on for two more minutes.

The puck dropped and as expected, Riley took control of it. The Varsity headed down the ice with it. The player circled behind the net, before coming in front and faking a shot. Julie mistakenly dove for it, which left the net open. The player took a shot at the wide-open net. Seeing that she wouldn't be able to stop the shot, Adam quickly jumped in front of the goal, allowing the puck to hit him in the chest.

He grunted when he felt the initial impact. He obviously had padding on, but that was a hard shot. He hit the ice and was a little slow to get up, though it was still quick enough that nobody would notice.

The bench jumped up, cheering loudly for Banks. Emma cheered, but also noticed he was a little slow to get up. Even though he had padding on, that had to hurt. Looking at her friends, she realized she was probably the only one who would have noticed that.

Without realizing, over the past year and a half she started to know every little thing about him, on and off the ice. She glanced across the arena at Lyla, who was also cheering for Adam, and she knew soon enough she would have to forget. _He deserves better._

Her thoughts were broken when she heard Averman yelling next to her. Goldberg cleared the puck, but the Varsity managed to get it right back.

Riley headed up center ice, moving past Goldberg and Adam. Charlie was the last person in his way. The two skated down the ice, facing each other. Riley began taunting Charlie, trying to get him to make a move so he could go past him, but Charlie waited patiently.

Emma could hear Orion's voice in her head.

 _Make him make the first move, Conway._

Finally, Riley charged at him and Charlie seized the opportunity. He flipped Riley over his back, allowing the puck to get loose.

Charlie took the puck and headed up center ice. Riley began following close behind, but Goldberg came out of nowhere and knocked him flat on his ass. Him and Adam followed him up the ice, but Adam was trying to shake off a Varsity player.

With ten seconds left, he faked out the last line of defense and reached the goal. He faked a shot, sending the puck backwards into the hands of Goldberg. Goldberg looked up, looking at the open net and the players charging at him.

"Shoot, Goldberg!"

He shot the puck with two seconds left and it sailed past Scooter into the net. The final horn sounded.

The Ducks won.

The team jumped off the bench, raising their hands and yelling loudly. They hopped over the side, heading out onto the ice to join the rest of the players.

"Goldberg, I knew you could do it!" Charlie yelled, skating over and grabbing his face.

"Don't ever do that to me again," Goldberg replied, frantically shaking his pale face.

"Goldberg, you did it. You scored, we won!" Adam yelled, joining the two in a hug.

The rest of the Ducks joined into the group hug, cheering for Goldberg. They broke the hug, but stuck around to celebrate on the ice.

Adam turned his head to find Emma standing a few feet away from him. She had a huge smile on her face as she was hugging Julie. He felt his heart skip a beat whenever she smiled like that.

 _You're supposed to be moving on._

Right. He looked to the entrance of the rink and found Lyla waiting there, clapping with a smile on her face. He smiled and headed towards her.

"Hey you, good game," she said, reaching up to give him a hug. He returned it and thanked her, but pulled away.

Lyla gave him a sad, knowing smile. "It's her, right?"

Adam thought about it for a moment. He glanced at the girl Lyla was talking about, and felt his heart stutter.

He didn't want to move on. He wanted her.

He turned back to Lyla, a guilty smile on his face. "It's always been her."

"Did I ever have a chance?" she asked softly.

"No," he answered, figuring it was best to be honest. "I'm sorry," he added, sadly. She averted her gaze for a second but then smiled at him. "It's okay, Adam. Go get her."

He nodded and skated back onto the ice. He shoved his way through the team, stopping a few feet short from where she was.

* * *

She could feel him from where she was standing. It was something that happened around the time she fell in love with him. She was always very aware of his presence whenever he was close by. When they were dating, it excited her. Lately, it just scared her.

Slowly, she turned her head and met his eyes. She waited nervously, wondering what he was going to say to her.

"I don't want anybody else," he said simply, skating closer to her.

Emma felt the air leave her lungs. "What?" she breathed out.

"I want you. You make me happier than I have ever been in my entire life. You believe in me and you make me want to be a better person. There is no one else. It's you, Emma. It's always been you and it's always going to be you."

She felt a tear slide down her face and she choked out a laugh. He reached for her, pulling her in for a kiss. Instantly, they felt the fire that had been missing for so long. In that moment, they knew there would never be anyone else ever again. They were sure of it.

Emma pulled away, smiling at him and resting her head against his. "God I love you," she mumbled. He smiled softly and kissed her again. "I love you too."

"Hey guys, look what Bombay did!" Dwayne yelled.

The two broke apart to look at what the team was pointing at. Underneath the scoreboard, a new banner hung. Their logo of the Mighty Duck was in the center, and around it read "Eden Hall Ducks."

"Alright, Eden Hall Mighty Ducks!"

* * *

Later that night, Emma was getting ready to go out and celebrate with her teammates. A few kids decided to throw a house party in celebration. Connie, Julie and Anna left a few minutes ago. She was waiting for Adam to come by so they could go together.

She was wearing tight ripped jeans and a low cut black bodysuit, with black booties on her feet. Her long blonde hair was in curls and she had on a full face of makeup.

She was putting on a necklace when there was a knock at the door. Knowing who it was, she smiled and walked to the door. When she opened it, she met the blue eyes of her boyfriend.

He looked her up and down and felt his mouth go dry. He said a silent prayer, hoping he'd make it through the party.

Emma gave him a once over and felt her heart beat wildly in her chest. He was wearing jeans and a dress shirt that was rolled up casually. She swallowed.

Suddenly, the party didn't sound so interesting.

The two stood at the door in silence for a few seconds, the tension in the air thick. Finally, Emma broke. She reached for him, grabbing him by the collar and pulling him in for a kiss.

"The party can wait," she mumbled against his lips. He murmured in agreement and backed her into the room, kicking the door closed behind him.

* * *

"As fun as that party sounded, I think I liked ours better," Emma said a little while later.

Adam laughed and pulled her closer to his chest. "I agree."

The two laid in Emma's bed, exhausted from their previous activities. They both couldn't keep the smiles off their faces. It felt good to be happy again.

"I missed this," Emma mumbled, placing a kiss on his shoulder.

"What, am I only good for the sex?" Adam joked, causing Emma to swat at his chest and giggle.

She rolled over so she was on top of him. He rested his hands on her thighs and looked up at her lovingly.

"You and me?"

"Always."


	13. Epilogue I

Emma sighed nervously. Her leg bounced up and down as she willed herself to look at the object she was holding. After what seemed like forever but also not long enough, the timer on her phone beeped. She took a deep breath and looked down.

She immediately felt a wave of nausea wash over her. What the fuck was she going to do?

She was only 22. She was a senior in college, which meant she didn't have a real job, a real home, or a steady income yet.

 _But you have Adam._

That thought should have calmed her, but it didn't. Sure, he was different than most guys and he would obviously be there for her, but would he be happy?

Scouts from all over the nation came to see him play in their final hockey season and he was a top pick in the draft. His hard work was paying off. He was going to get his dream.

She looked around their apartment. Emma shared an apartment with the girls for a year while Adam lived with Charlie, Guy and Averman. Right before their senior year began, he asked her to move in with him. She agreed instantly and the two found a nice little apartment to spend their last year of college in.

Emma smiled happily to herself, the past four years felt like a dream. Her and Adam had a few fights, but they got through it. Now, they were living together and had plans for their future.

 _This_ was not in the plans. Not now, anyway.

They both wanted this, she knew that, but she thought it would be in a few years when there was stability. She laughed at how stupid she'd been. When had anything ever been normal in her life.

Her scattered thoughts were interrupted when she heard the door to their apartment open. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, thinking over the plan on how to tell him her news.

"Em?" he yelled into the apartment.

"In here!" she responded from her seat on the couch.

He came in the room with a big smile on his face. She raised an eyebrow, curious as to what was going on.

"We're going to Philadelphia," he said excitedly.

"I'm pregnant," she blurted out immediately after his sentence, and then quickly threw her hand over her mouth.

His face dropped in shock. "What?"

"I'm pregnant," she repeated, this time more like a question, trying to read the expression on his face. She sat there watching him, waiting for a response. He said nothing. "Adam-"

He finally moved, sitting down next to her. "You're sure?" he asked. She nodded, averting her gaze to the ground.

"I'm gonna pull myself out of the draft."

She snapped her head up to meet his gaze. "No. What? No. Absolutely not."

"Emma, if I go, I'm constantly going to be away on roadies. I'm not letting you do this alone," he reasoned.

She felt tears well up in her eyes. "I can't be the one to take your dream away from you," she choked out.

He smiled softly at her. "Baby, this is a far better dream than anything I could've ever imagined. Getting to the NHL _was_ my dream. That changed when I met you."

She felt the tears fall and she choked out a laugh. "Oh god, don't make me throw up."

"You love it when I'm cheesy, don't deny it," he joked. He held her face in his hands, getting her to look back up at him. "We're having a baby," he whispered, disbelievingly.

She laughed and nodded her head, giving him a watery smile. "Yeah."

He grinned at her before getting up off the couch and jogging into their room. Emma watched him, confused. "I tell you I'm pregnant and you run away from me. Should I be concerned?" she joked. She heard him mumble something incoherent in response.

He came back a few seconds later with something in his hands.

"I was planning on waiting until the draft to do this, but I can't wait any longer," he said, nervously playing with the item in his hands. Emma's hand covered her mouth when he got down on one knee in front of her. He opened the box to reveal a beautiful ring.

"I told you four years ago in that dorm room that you were it for me, Emma, and I meant it. Will you marry me?"

She let a few tears fall and shook her head vigorously. "Yes," she said without hesitation.

She immediately flew off the couch and into his arms, laughing happily. He laughed with her, holding her tightly to him. When she finally let go, he took her hand and slid the ring onto her finger. They kissed passionately for a few seconds before Emma pulled away.

"I love you," he quietly said to her, his forehead leaning against hers.

"And I love you," she responded, just as softly. "But baby?"

"Yeah?"

"We're still going to Philadelphia."


	14. Epilogue II

**2030**

The biting Pennsylvania air pressed against Emma's face as she skated down the ice, a puck at the edge of her stick. She came face to face with Charlie Conway, who was smirking at her.

"Still got what it takes, James?" he taunted.

She smirked and swerved around him, making a quick pass to the other player on her team. The other player immediately sent the puck into the net and cheered.

"That's my girl!" Emma yelled, racing over to hug her daughter. After their celebration, she turned to Charlie. "I think I still got it."

He laughed at her and turned to his teammate. "We'll get you next time, right Adam?"

"Yeah, we'll get you next time, Mama!" Adam Jr. responded. Charlie held his fist out, which Adam enthusiastically bumped. Emma rolled her eyes at the two, smiling softly.

She looked across the pond to find Anna standing along the edge of the pond, holding a two-year-old boy in her arms. Emma grinned and skated over to the two of them. "And how's my other boy doing?"

"He's having the time of his life with his favorite Auntie," Anna responded. She bounced the toddler on her hip, smiling when it made him giggle.

"Oh no, don't go filling her head with any ideas Em," Charlie said while skating over.

Anna rolled her eyes, "Relax Conway, you just put a ring on my finger. That's enough for now."

Charlie grinned, placing a quick kiss on her head. Emma smiled at her two best friends.

After the draft, Emma and Adam found a nice apartment in Center City Philadelphia. Emma had just gotten a job and Adam had training camp all summer. Anna and Charlie both found jobs in the city as well. Eventually, they began hanging out on their own. Hanging out led to dating and dating led to an engagement, which happened about a month ago.

"Besides, I'm perfectly happy being the fun aunt at the moment," Anna adds.

Emma rolls her eyes. "Sometimes I think I have five kids when you guys come around."

"It's even better when the entire team comes around."

* * *

Emma watched the recap of yesterday's Flyers game through half-lidded eyes. She blinked the exhaustion away and looked down at the baby boy sprawled out across her chest and then at the other two who were passed out on the other couch.

She pushed them to go to bed, but her two eldest children wanted to stay up and wait for their dad to get home from his weeklong road trip. After listening to their whining for half an hour, she agreed, knowing that they would most likely be asleep before he got home anyway.

She looked at the clock, noticing her husband should be home shortly.

In June of 2021, Adam was drafted #7 overall to the Philadelphia Flyers. After a grueling first training camp, he made the opening night roster. He scored his first NHL goal in his third game and ended up coming in third place for the Calder Trophy.

In December of 2021, a very pregnant Emma was watching the second period of Adam's game in Tampa from the comfort of their Philadelphia apartment when she went into labor. Adam was informed in the middle of the second period and immediately left the game to catch the next flight home.

The next day, their daughter Malia Rose was born.

Sometimes in the time after Malia was just born, Emma would find herself getting angry with Adam. Angry with him for never being home, for not being able to help her, for a whole lot of things, really.

She found herself breaking down quite a few times those first few years, overwhelmed by how alone and utterly exhausted she felt.

(Her mom got annoyed pretty quickly by her constant thank yous. She still slips them in time to time because she doesn't think she could say thank you enough for all of her mom's help.)

But she knows Adam, better than she knows herself. She knows that there is nowhere else in the world he'd rather be than at home with his family. She knows that it pains him to be away from them. She knows that even though he is living his dream, he would give it all up in a second if she asked him to.

(She wouldn't, but it's the thought that counts.)

And Adam, even though he's away a lot, is absolutely perfect.

He calls every day he's away, usually right before the kids go to bed so he can tell them goodnight. When he's frustrated after a bad game, he still comes through the front door with the biggest smile on his face. And even when he's absolutely exhausted from a long roadie, he still helps her do things around the house and gets up with the kids in the middle of the night and will stay up just to spend time with her.

She stopped being angry with him long ago because of this.

Realistically, she probably never really was, considering they ended up having two more kids. It couldn't have been that bad if she wanted to do it all over again. Twice.

Her thoughts were broken when she heard the front door open. Less than a minute later, Adam walked into the living room. The biggest smile spread across his face as he looked at the sight in front of him.

It's stupid really, that even after all these years, just the sight of him can make Emma's heart skip a beat. Still, she welcomes the familiar flutter and finds herself grinning back at him.

"They wanted to wait up for you," she explained softly.

"You knew they wouldn't," he replied knowingly.

He sat next to her on the couch and kissed her. "Hi."

"Hi," she responded, tilting her head up to kiss him again, "missed you."

"I missed you too, how were the kids?" he asked, smoothing his hand over Luke's hair.

"Good, they missed you too. Charlie and Anna came by so we took them to the pond."

Adam hummed in response. Emma could feel the exhaustion radiating off of him, so she lightly pushed his shoulder and urged him to get up. She picked herself and Luke up off the couch and motioned towards the two eldest. "Come on, let's go to bed."

* * *

The seats in the Wells Fargo Center began to fill as the horn went off, indicating that warm-ups were over. Shortly after, the starting lineups were announced, the national anthem was sung and the game had begun.

Emma loves every single moment she gets to watch Adam play. She loves how happy he is with his team and how focused he is and how he plays his heart out every night.

She doesn't miss playing like she thought she would. She thinks it's because she gets to watch him play.

(She also thinks it's part of the reason they kept having kids. She really shouldn't find him so fucking attractive when he gets into fights, but here they are three kids later.)

She looks over at her babies and realizes that hockey will probably always be a part of her life, long after Adam stops playing. They are totally entranced by the game. She watches as Malia mumbles softly to herself about the different plays and Adam tightly clutches his seat as he watches his dad handle the puck and even Luke, with the soundproof headphones over his ears, is completely focused on the puck moving around the ice.

Malia is 9 and Adam is 7, so they both have a few seasons of peewees under their belts by now and there's no chance they're going to slow down. Not when they want to be on the ice every waking moment.

As much as she loves hockey, she was hoping that at least one of her kids did something a little different. Her last hope was Luke, but that was quickly shutdown when someone bought him a little hockey play set for his birthday and the only time Emma could get the stick out of his hands was when he was sleeping.

So yeah, she's going to spend the rest of her life in a hockey rink. She's not complaining, really. She has so much love for the sport that brought her and Adam together.

She watched as Adam intercepted a pass and swiftly moved towards the Devils' goalie. He deked twice and sent the puck sailing over the goalie's shoulder. The crowd erupted in cheers, including her three little ones who were screaming their heads off. Adam high fived his teammates on the bench and then pointed up towards his family, causing Emma to grin.

* * *

Later that night, Emma woke up when she felt Adam slide into the bed. She turned around to face him. He smiled softly at her, leaning over to kiss her.

"Good game babe," she murmured softly, "that goal was a beauty."

He smiled at her, "Scored it for you."

She laughed softly and rolled her eyes. "You say that every time you score."

He laughed with her and pulled her close. They fell into a comfortable silence, content with just being with each other.

"Are you happy? With how our life turned out, I mean," Emma asked a little while later, absent-mindedly drawing shapes into his chest.

"Uh," he dragged out, pretending to be thinking, "nah."

She swatted at him and giggled, weakly protesting when he hovered over her, laughing and pressing kisses to her face and neck. He pulled back to look her in the eyes.

"I'm on a team that has given me not one, but two Stanley Cups. That was something that I imagined every day of my life. But this family, you, that's a whole other level. The fact that I get to call you my wife and that you gave me those three amazing kids is something I've never dreamed of. I am so thankful that you skated onto that ice that day all those years ago."

Emma rolled her eyes and gave him a good shove. "I asked if you were happy. I didn't need you to be such a sap," she joked.

If her eyes were watering and she had a huge grin on her face, well, Adam wasn't going to say anything about that.

He just grinned and tucked his face into her neck, placing a soft kiss there. He could hear his wife sigh contently.

"I love you, Adam Banks."

"I love you too, Emma James-Banks."

* * *

 **Aaaaand that's it!**

 **Thank you guys so so much for sticking with this story. I know it's been a long time in the making but I'm so happy with the way it turned out.**

 **Hope you guys enjoyed. :)**

 **-T**


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